BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Provincial Election Monitoring Action Center (PEMAC) of the Joint Provincial Security Coordinating Committee established at Camp Alfredo Montelibano Sr. in Bacolod City, that aims to monitor all election related concerns, is now operational, disclosed yesterday by Brig. Gen. Inocencio Pasaporte, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander.
Pasaporte said that PEMAC will serve as the central monitoring unit where information relative to the conduct of May 9 elections in Negros Occidental, including security, will be addressed.
He added that the PEMAC will also serve as validation and counter validation of information relative to the local elections, in which reports are directly addressed to concerned deputized agencies for proper response.
Pasaporte stressed that the successful conduct of the election does not rely on the COMELEC, Army, PNP and other security agencies alone, but with the full participation of the Negrosanon in safeguarding the sanctity of the ballots.
Provincial Comelec supervisor Roberto Salazar Jr. reported that JPSCC is all set for the May 9 polls in the province, with the security requirements for the voting centers having been deployed, as well as Quick Reaction Teams of the Philippine Army and National Police already in place.
More than 3,200 soldiers, paramilitary troopers and police personnel have been deployed to secure the synchronized national and local elections in Negros Occidental today, which has 19 election areas of concern.
PCol. Leo Pamittan, acting provincial police director of Negros Occidental, said that NOCPPO assessed they are now in the execution phase of their four months-long security preparations, in line with the synchronized national and local elections.
“We hope that everything will run according to our plans,” Pamittan said.*
