The campaign to ensure the peaceful and honest conduct of the 2022 elections is on the right track with the series of operations that led to the arrest of gun-runners and members of partisan armed groups and the confiscation of loose guns, the Philippine National Police (PNP) assured on Sunday, Sept. 26.
PNP chief Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar issued the statement after President Duterte threatened to use the military if he thinks that the conduct of elections would not be peaceful and orderly.
"We conducted a series of successful operations in various parts of the country which resulted in the arrests of of gun-runners and members of partisan armed groups and we also confiscated a lot of loose firearms that could be used to sabotage the elections next year," said Eleazar.
He said that monitoring and intelligence build-up continue on the part of the PNP.
Eleazar said that the PNP is continuously coordinating with the Commission on Elections and other agencies with regard to election security that includes identification of election hot spots and individuals and groups that may be tapped as goons of erring politicians.
He said that since coordination and interoperability with the Armed Forces of the Philippines and other law enforcement agencies have been proven effective in the campaign against illegal drugs, the same level of cooperation will be used among concerned government agencies for election security.
The PNP and the AFP are usually the law agencies being tapped by the Commission on Elections in maintaining peace and order during election period.