Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar, chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), ordered on Thursday, Aug. 26, all unit and area commanders to start the security preparations for the 2022 presidential and local elections.

Eleazar explained that early security preparations have been proven to be effective in preventing any attempt to sow violence and cheating that could influence the outcome of the national and local elections.

“Kasabay ng mainit na usapan sa eleksyon sa susunod na taon, inatasan ko na ang lahat ng ating area commanders na umpisahan na ang paghahanda upang matiyak ang malinis at maayos na halalan sa ating bansa (Amid the election discussions, I have already ordered all our area commanders to start the preparations to ensure clean and orderly conduct of elections in our country,” said Eleazar.

Part of his order, according to Eleazar, is to account loose guns and the monitoring of individuals and groups that may be tapped by erring candidates.

He said he also wants local commanders to focus on the presence of armed groups based on the data from the previous elections.

“We will also start coordinating with the Armed Forces of the Philippines for election security in areas with high presence of armed groups, especially the CPP-NPA-NDF (Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front),” said Eleazar.

Communist rebels have been accused of extorting huge sum of money in exchange for access in areas where they usually operate. The sum of money is collected from politicians through permit to campaign also serves assurance that candidates will not be harassed.

“We have to make sure that they would be denied of this illegal activity so it is really important that we start early to study and anticipate any threat to the elections next year,” said Eleazar.

Eleazar earlier ordered commanders to help secure the voters registration of the Commission on Elections, especially when the poll body announced that it would extend the registration hours to 7 p.m. starting August 23.