By Martin Sadongdong About 2,838 police officers have been trained by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to sit as Election Board should there be teachers who fail to render poll duty on election, the Philippine National Police assured Saturday. PNP spokesman P/Col. Bernard Banac
(PNP / MANILA BULLETIN) Police Colonel Bernard Banac, PNP spokesperson, said they have yet to receive confirmed reports of teachers who refuse to perform election duties on Monday. He clarified that the PNP received a claim that some 400 teachers backed out in Lanao del Sur but it was not a confirmed report. "The PNP will wait for instructions from Comelec but we are ready to respond and provide replacements should the need arise," Banac told the Manila Bulletin in a text message. "We have 2,838 cops who were trained by the Comelec for this purpose," he added. Of the number, Banac said around 500 cops are assigned in Mindanao which is placed under Red category by the Comelec or areas of grave concern. ec, Banac noted. In the past elections, there have been cases where police officers acted as substitute board of election inspectors (BEIs) after teachers backed out due to security concerns. For instance, the PNP deployed substitute BEIs in Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur in the 2016 elections after around 400 teachers refused to perform their poll duties. However, Banac said that this year's peace and order situation is "better" compared to past elections. From January 13 to 6 a.m. Saturday, data from the PNP-National Election Monitoring Action Center (NEMAC) showed 40 election-related violent incidents have been recorded nationwide. It was lower compared to the 106 pre-election incidents recorded in 2016 and 94 incidents in 2013. This year's 40 election-related violent incidents resulted in the death of 14 individuals and wounding of 22 others. The PNP earlier said most of the victims of poll-related violence are the candidates themselves and their supporters. "Probably the teachers have just expressed concern about their safety but we would like to give them an assurance that our personnel will provide them the necessary protection and security," Banac said in a separate radio interview. Aside from Lanao del Sur, the PNP spokesperson also noted the usual concern of teachers in Sulu about terrorism. "One concern that we are monitoring is the potential threat of terrorism in Sulu due to the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG). We already know that these terrorists tend to target the teachers who just want to serve but we are ready to protect our teachers," Banac said. The entire PNP had earlier been placed in full alert status for the elections on Monday.