FOR PEACEFUL ELECTIONS

LINGAYEN—The chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) skipped celebration of Valentine’s Day and went around the region, including Pangasinan to look into preparations for the conduct of peaceful elections on May 9.

Police Director-General Ricardo Marquez told newsmen, “I want to see their (region’s) state of preparation. I also want to see their update on Lambat Sibat, is it working here, because it is working quite well in Metro Manila. ”

He said because Pangasinan was included among those under election watch list areas due to intense political rivalry in 2010 and 2013 among the feuding candidates, he will detail a special operations task group in the province.

Regional special operations task group for the six priority provinces have been created to carry out Marquez’s order for zero violence.

In Region 1, Marquez said P/Sr. Superintendent Marlou Chan, deputy police regional director for administration, is the designated commander of the regional special operations task group. Chan served as OIC-provincial director of Pangasinan.

The task group will help the local police enforce Secured and Fair Elections  (SAFE) 2016 in Pangasinan.

Pangasinan is so far the only province in Region 1 included in the list of EWAs on account of recorded political violence in the 2010 and 2013 elections.

POLITICAL RIVALRIES

The current intense political rivalries in towns and cities are exacerbated by the showdown of two political families, the Espinos and the Cojuangcos.

Gov. Amado Espino’s son and namesake Amado “Pogi” Espino III is up against former Fifth District Congressman Mark Cojuangco while the elder Espino is challenging Fifth District Rep. Kimi Cojuangco.

The police already listed 20 towns and cities in Pangasinan as hotspots.

Topping the list of hotspot is the town of Bayambang where former Mayor Leocadio de Vera was shot and wounded by an unidentified gunman few days before filing his certificate of candidacy.

The others in the list are Urbiztondo, Infanta, San Carlos City, Agno, Rosales and Bani.

Meanwhile, P/Sr. Supt. Edgar AlLan Okubo, officer-in-charge police director of the Pangasinan Provincial Police Office, said they were surprised by Marquez’s decision to hold command conference in Lingayen on Valentine’s Day.

“We also did not have our Valentine’s dates,” Okubo said.

But Okubo said he and his policemen were in high morale after Marquez commended them for their accomplishments in their two-hour conference with police chiefs.

Pangasinan police stations were able to decrease crime incidents for seven-focused crimes like murder, homicide, theft, robbery, physical injuries, car and other motor vehicle thefts from an average of 40 to 26 incidents per month.

Okubo added that Marquez’ marching order to them to aim for a zero poll-related violent incident is “possible”. (Tita Roces/Leonardo Micua)

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