The PNP started security preparations for the 2022 elections, according to Eleazar.
On Thursday, PNP chief Police General Guillermo Eleazar directed all unit and area commanders to start security preparations for the 2022 elections.
Eleazar said in a statement that he had instructed police personnel to monitor and account private armed groups and loose firearms that could be used for intimidation and sabotage of election results.
The PNP chief also said that amidst the discussion about the upcoming elections next year, he directed all area commanders to start the preparations in order to ensure clean and peaceful elections in the Philippines.
Based on a report on GMA News Online, the Philippine National Police said that its intelligence community and commanders were expected to monitor and to conduct reviews on the presence of firearms with expired licenses and other loose firearms in their areas.
Eleazar also ordered special attention to the presence of armed groups based on the data from the country’s previous elections.
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Last June, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said that they would identify election hotspots where there’s a high risk of violence during elections and more security forces will be deployed in those areas as well.
According to Año, private armed groups usually emerged during election periods to produce funds for campaigns and to threaten political rivals.
In West Mindanao, the military was monitoring around 126 potential private armed groups and also addressing seven similar groups. Aside from West Mindanao, Año said that they’re also monitoring the potential emergence of PAGs in Eastern Visayas, Northern Luzon, and Western Visayas.
Also, the police will start coordinating with the Armed Forces for election security in areas with high presence of armed groups, especially the CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines) and related groups.
“We have to make sure that they would be denied of this illegal activity so it is really important that we start early to study and anticipate any threat to the elections next year,” Eleazar said.
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