• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade is mobilizing at least 1,045 Army soldiers and CAFGUs to secure the May 12 polls in Negros Occidental, its commander, Brig. Gen Ted Dumosmog disclosed yesterday.
Dumosmog, who supervises three Army battalions in Negros Occidental, disclosed that his troops will secure candidates, the electorate, and Comelec poll workers.
While he acknowledged that there might be threats to the elections from remnants of the New People’s Army, he, however, dismissed it as insignificant.
The NPA earlier claimed responsibility for the burning of heavy equipment used in the construction of a farm to market road in Barangay Aya, La Libertad, Negros Oriental, which caused damage estimated by authorities at P5 million.
That incident was followed by an encounter between 79th Infantry Battalion soldiers and rebel remnants yesterday in the hinterlands of Cadiz City, Dumosmog disclosed.
“We will continue to track down those who will disrupt the elections,” he stressed.
P/Col. Rainerio de Chavez, provincial police director of Negros Occidental, said they are still continuing the conduct of risk assessments of more than 700 candidates in the province.
As far as the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office is concerned, the province remains under the green category, or areas with no election related security concerns, De Chavez added.
The Provincial Joint Security Coordinating Center of Negros Occidental, composed of the Commission on Elections, Philippine Army, National Police, and Coast Guard, will have a meeting on February 18 to discuss election related security issues, and the validation of possible election areas of concerns, among other topics.
A peace covenant signing held at Camp Alfredo Montelibano Sr. in Bacolod City, which was initiated by the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office, was attended by 12 candidates for various provincial positions and congressional aspirants, including 5th district Representative Emilio Bernardino Yulo III, Lea Delfinado (4th district, Negros Occ), Victorias City Mayor Javier Miguel Benitez (3rd district, Negros Occ), gubernatorial candidate Ferdinand Diego, vice gubernatorial candidate Rosemarie Dreyfus, Salvador Benedicto Vice Mayor Nehemiah Joe Dela Cruz, Board Member Sixto Guanzon Jr., Board Member aspirants Arthur Christopher Marañon and Hope Mary Depasucat Sazon, Leo Carlo Delfinado, Patricia Paula Valderrama, Aly Tongson Jr., and Nicholas Yulo.*
