LINGAYEN—The Pangasinan Police Provincial Office (PPPO) is keen on hosting ceremonial peace covenants in all towns to help achieve zero election-related violence notwithstanding the listing of Pangasinan as an “election-watch area.”

P/Sr. Superintendent Edgar Allan Okubo, officer-in-charge-provincial director of the PPPO, said the peace covenant signing with provincial candidates will be set soon while chiefs of police of different towns are also preparing to host the same activity in their respective areas.

A peace covenant signing was already held in Rosales and Labrador in the first week of February.

Last February 1, Okubo submitted to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan the list of 20 towns in the province under their election watch list areas (EWAs), but did not disclose the contents of the list to the media.

Although in the recent interview with Okubo last Feb. 10, he confirmed that the towns of Bayambang, San Carlos City, Urbiztondo, Malasiqui, and Bugallon are the top five in PPPO’s EWAs list.

“The remaining 15 (towns) are for continuous assessment,” he added.

Okubo said the major criteria or risk factors in the identification of the EWAs included the presence of intense political rivalry and history of election-related violence.

Earlier, Okubo noted that the presence of two private armed groups (PAGs) and 22 criminal groups with 103 personalities in the province pose additional threats to the staging of safe and peace elections.

The PPPO data list 994 loose firearms believed to be in the hands of criminals and 12,482 are firearms whose licenses were not renewed.

Further, Okubo said that though Pangasinan is declared insurgency-free, there is the presence of Communist Party of the Philippines- New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) encroaching on the southern and eastern parts of the province.

At least 200 PNP personnel have been requested as augmentation force to secure safe and peaceful May 9 polls.

The PPPO presently has 2,699 personnel or a 1:1,330 police to population ratio.

(Johanne Macob)

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