Placing Masbate under Comelec control mulled

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is studying the possibility of placing Masbate under its control following reports that communist-led insurgency was intensifying in the said province within the Bicol region. “We have to study it. Masbate is one of those provinces that has had a record of election-related violence... and we hope it won’t happen in this elections," said Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal in an interview with reporters on Monday. Masbate, which has a total of 436,957 registered voters, is known "for having several ambush(es) and killings" during the election period, according to the Comelec official. Earlier, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Dir. General Jesus Verzosa said law enforcers had been closely monitoring the political situation in Masbate. He said the PNP had received reports that “rogue members of the New People's Army (NPA)" were operating there as “goons-for-hire." Based on PNP records, Masbate has some 3,000 loose firearms. At the same time, the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People's Army (NPA), has three guerrilla fronts in the province, where 93 active members are armed with an estimated 113 firearms. Among the initial actions taken by the police were to intensify checkpoints and to deploy some 100 police personnel to the province for operations against armed groups and violators of the Comelec gun ban. In 2007, the province was placed under Comelec control due to fears that different armed groups would disrupt the peace there during the polls. “The Philippine National Police (PNP) and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) deployed a lot of personnel in the area to maintain peace and order but despite that, incidents (still) happened. Hopefully that won’t happen this year," said Larrazabal, who was regional director of Region V. But the Comelec cannot just decide to place Masbate under its control. Someone has to file a petition to have the province placed under Comelec, before the agency could conduct a hearing and decide on the issue, Larrazabal said. “We are ready to declare it under Comelec control provided a hearing will be conducted to determine if there is a need to place it under Comelec control or not," he said. If Masbate would be placed under the control of the Comelec, the commissioner assigned in the area will become the acting governor of the province. - ARCS/LBG, GMANews.TV