CAMP RAFAEL C. RODRIGUEZ, Butuan City – The Police Regional Office-13 said the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections on Monday, October 30, in the Caraga region was generally peaceful and without untoward incidents.
“So far, up to this time (3:10 p.m.), no untoward incident reported in the different areas in Caraga region, in relation to our barangay election,” said PRO-13 Regional Public Information Office (RPIO) chief Police Major Jennifer S. Ometer.
“Very smooth, everything is normal, peaceful, and orderly, as reported by our ground personnel in the different places in the region,” Ometer said.
She said the PRO-13 command group led by Police Brig. Gen. Kirby John B. Kraft visited police offices to personally look and assess their status for the elections.
Kraft said 6,316 policemen have been deployed to secure 1,349 voting centers in the region. Mobilities and other equipment for the elections were also deployed in the region, he added.
Missing voters’ names were among the problems the electorate encountered in the elections here.
This problem was also observed in few areas in the region but everything was properly addressed, the regional action and monitoring center of the Commission on Election (Comelec) here said.
“This problem was immediately addressed by our Board of Electoral Inspectors (BEIs),” Comelec-13 Director Francisco G. Pobe said.
Pobe thanked concerned line agencies, particularly the police, military, Philippine Coast Guard, and Bureau of Jail Management and Penologyfor their all-out effort to make the elections meaningful, peaceful, and orderly.
“Our heartfelt gratitude for their all-out effort in helping to make this BSKE 2023 peaceful,” said Pobe.
Pobe reminded BSKE candidates that pursuant to Section 256 of Comelec Resolution No. 10924, they shall remove or cause to remove all their election propaganda at their expense within days after the elections and without need of notice.
“Candidates, therefore, have until Nov. 4, 2023 to remove their respective election propaganda materials,” Pobe said.