Despite 400 gun ban violators, grassroots polls still 'peaceful'

Despite more than 400 arrests for violations of the electoral gun ban and a number of election-related violent incidents, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said Thursday that its security measures for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan election period are still in place as planned. The campaign period for the grassroots polls started peacefully on Thursday without any “adverse situation," PNP spokesman Senior Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr. told GMANews.TV. "We hope magpapatuloy ito hanggang sa elections [We hope this continues until the elections]," Cruz said. Just the same, he stressed the need to intensify police visibility in the villages, especially those in the 2,301 areas under the PNP watchlist, since he considered the barangay and SK polls as more prone to security problems. "Mas mahirap ngayon kapag [It’s more difficult during] local elections simply because of the sheer magnitude of the elections," Cruz said. Around 672,400 elective posts in 42,025 barangays are expected to be filled in after the local polls. Commission on Elections spokesman James Jimenez said the poll body has yet to aggregate the total number of candidates for this year's grassroots polls, but added it would definitely be higher than the 880,000 candidates listed in the 2007 polls. For the upcoming elections, the PNP has deployed 85 percent of its 132,000 uniformed personnel nationwide.
The PNP is also concerned about the village-level polls being more intense than national elections. "Ang laban kasi ay angkan-angkan kaya mas mainit at passionate [The races are among clans and so are more heated and passionate]," he added. Since the gun ban was implemented last September 25, the PNP has recorded six election-related violent incidents in Batangas, Pangasinan, Bukidnon and elsewhere. Also, the PNP has already arrested 411 individuals. Of these, 386 are private citizens, five are with the military, eight are police personnel, and 12 are government employees. Confiscated from the gun ban violators were a total of 356 firearms, five airguns, 86 bladed weapons, and 20 explosive grenades. At least 36 cases had already been filed against suspected gun ban violators, while 325 people are still undergoing investigation. Despite the figures, Cruz maintained that the PNP is expected to repeat the security achievements in the May nation elections, which it considers as one of the most peaceful and successful elections in the country’s history. "Naging matahimik noong May election at ngayon ganoon pa rin ang trend [The May elections were peaceful and now that’s still the trend]," he added. Authorities have activated a joint police and military task force to ensure orderly and peaceful elections by manning checkpoints, arresting gun ban violators, and providing security detail to candidates, among other functions. More violators? Meanwhile, the Comelec said it expects more candidates in the upcoming elections to exceed the poll-spending cap compared to the May elections. National candidates in the May elections had a P10-per-voter campaign spending cap, while barangay and SK candidates are only allowed a P3-per-voter cap. "With a very low cap, you can expect people to really violate. Just imagine, if you have 1,000 constituents, you can only spend P3,000," Jimenez told GMANews.TV in a separate interview. The Comelec admitted it could not monitor poll spending of candidates for the forthcoming elections, and would only rely on poll protests and complaints to be filed after October 25. "It's always afterwards," said Jimenez, adding that candidates are also required to submit their statements of expenditures before November 10. Unlike in previous barangay and SK elections, Jimenez said election rules for the 2010 grassroots polls are stricter and "do not allow a winning candidate to assume office" if requirements on the spending cap and statement of expenditures are not met.—JV, GMANews.TV