MORE than 8,700 police personnel will be deployed across the Ilocos Region to ensure a peaceful election, with most to be assigned in Pangasinan, which has the highest number of registered voters in the region.

P/Lt. Col. Benigno Sumawang, deputy chief of Regional Community Affairs Development Division, said the deployment will include quick reaction teams, checkpoints mandated by the Commission on Elections, and monitoring of COMELEC warehouses as well as provincial, city, and municipal treasurer’s offices.

The Ilocos Region covers 5,337 precincts spread across 2,684 voting centers, with more than 3.6 million registered voters, of which over 2.15 million are in Pangasinan.

In addition to police presence, there will be additional forces specifically tasked to monitor towns and cities classified as ‘areas of concern’ that may pose potential violent incidents or tensions on May 12, election day.

Thirteen localities across four provinces in the region were designated as “yellow category” areas of concern due to historical instances of suspected election-related incidents.

To further reinforce security, the Regional Election Monitoring Action Center (REMAC) and the Provincial Election Monitoring Action Center (PEMAC) were reactivated on January 6, which serve as central command posts for monitoring and consolidating election-related information, providing real-time support to personnel deployed in the field.

Sumawang reported that based on their intelligence monitoring, there are no known private armed groups operating within the region. (Ahikam Pasion)

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