• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Tuesday announced it will place all its stations in Negros Island Region on full alert, starting today, April 16, as part of its efforts to secure the Holy Week celebration and onward to the May 12 national and local elections (NLEs).
PBrig. Gen. Arnold Thomas Ibay, newly-installed officer-in-charge of the Police Regional Office Negros Island Region, yesterday disclosed that vacation leaves have been cancelled, as the Automated Counting Machines needed for the May 12 elections have started to arrive in key areas of the region.
The PRO-NIR already started the implementation of its “Oplan SumVac (Summer Vacation)” by securing airport, ports, bus terminals, religious sites, and beach and mountain resorts, with the expected surge of travelers returning to their provinces in NIR.
Ibay, who paid a separate courtesy call on Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson and Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer at the Provincial Capitol in Bacolod City on Tuesday, said they are also finalizing the deployment of police personnel in the region, in coordination with the Commission on Elections, with the help of Philippine Army and Coast Guard, for the May 12 elections.
Lacson said he wants the PRO-NIR to make sure that the new region will have orderly and peaceful elections next month.
The Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office (NOPPO) earlier said it needs 347 additional personnel for its staffing requirements and election duty, since Police Regional Office 7 could no longer provide additional manpower to the province, which was officially separated from the Central Visayas region.
The PRO-NIR is composed of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor Police Provincial Offices, as well as the Bacolod City Police Office.*
