MANILA — The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Friday said they will raise their alert status to full alert for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE), starting Saturday, Oct. 28.

PNP chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr. said that along with the increase in alert status, all of the more than 187,600 police personnel will be deployed to various locations across the country.

"Regional Commanders possess the discretion to deploy personnel under their operational control and supervision earlier than Saturday, depending on the prevailing peace and security situation in their respective areas," Acorda said in a press briefing in Camp Crame.

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The country will hold the BSKE on Monday, Oct. 30.

Meanwhile, the investigation into the shooting incident in Bgry. Rosary Heights 12 in Cotabato City is still underway, and additional police personnel have been deployed.

Cotabato City remains under the yellow category, which means there have been previous recorded incidents of election-related and politically-motivated incidents.

The probe into the shooting incidents in Masbate is also underway, the police chief said, while they continue to determine why some candidates withdrew from the BSKE in Abra.

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Police Major Edgar Allan Okubo, PNP's director for Police Community Relations, said the majority of the 250 BSKE candidates who withdrew from the race in Abra Province were gunning for barangay captain and councilor positions.

“Base po dun sa pahayag at rekomendasyon ng mga community elders dahil dito po sa Abra at ibang parte po ng Cordillera, malaki po ang boses ng mga elders 'pag sila po ang nagdesisyon, nagsalita sa kanilang mga komunidad," Okubo said.

"Nalaman natin na ito po’y sinusunod po pala sa lalawigan ng Abra," he added.

The PNP earlier said they were monitoring the massive withdrawal of candidates in Abra. Several barangays in the province are under areas of concern.

The PNP assured the public that they have the situation under control amid the consecutive shooting incidents involving BSKE candidates.

Acorda said there are currently no security threats being monitored.

"These violence na naririnig natin, nare-report sa atin, these are being monitored and may mga standby forces tayo....I can say that we are on top of the situation," the PNP chief said.

"In totality, for the threat assessment, except for some shooting incidents na na-report especially in the areas... Masbate... sa pangkahalatan naman ay tahimik," he said.

VOTE-BUYING

The PNP said it is also monitoring cases of vote buying and vote selling, as well as the implementation of the money ban.

Acorda reminded policemen to fulfill their duties properly as he emphasized the importance of their role in the election.

OTHER PREPARATIONS

Cops assigned in areas where teachers refuse to act as Board of Election Inspectors will double as such, Okubo said.

Their preparations would be in full coordination with the Commission of Elections (Comelec), he said.

As election day nears, the PNP also continues to prepare especially in the countryside to ensure that communist rebels will not disrupt Monday’s voting, Okubo said.

This, despite the absence of supposed threats from and possible activities of the CPP-NPA, according to the official.

Out of the 135 incidents recorded as of Oct. 25, the PNP has validated 26 as election-related; 24 are suspected to be election-related; and 85 have been found to have no relation to the upcoming polls.

There are 361 areas classified by the PNP as "red category" for the BSKE.

Areas of concern for the BSKE include Northern Samar which still has 19 guerilla fronts, Okubo said.

Other areas under police monitoring include Ilocos, Tarlac-Zambales, Southern Tagalog, the islands of Panay, Samar, Negros, Misamis Occidental, Caraga and Soccsksargen.

“Mayroon tayong binabantayan na isang guerilla front, particular yung front committee one dito po sa bandang Northern Samar na dyan po tayo nag-concentrate ng deployment natin,” Okubo said.

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