POLICE said 12 candidates in Northern Mindanao are potential “high risks” victims of electoral violence in the coming Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections on October 30.
Camp Alagar spokesperson Major Joanne Navarro did not identify the threatened candidates but said seven are in Lanao del Norte, three are in Misamis Occidental, two in Bukidnon, and one in Misamis Oriental.
Navarro said their police intelligence office also identified 70 other candidates who are considered to be “medium risks” in the coming elections.
She said the candidates who are considered to have “medium risks” threats on their lives are in Bukidnon, 27; Misamis Occidental, 19; Misamis Oriental, 18; Lanao del Norte, three and Iligan City, two.
“The campaigning would be pretty intense since many of the candidates are neighbors and friends,” Navarro told journalists who attended the BSK voters education seminar organized by the Cagayan de Oro Press Club and the Hanns Seidel Foundation here last Saturday.
Navarro said the Philippine National Police will deploy more than 7,500 policemen including bomb disposal experts and combat officers throughout the nine cities, five provinces, 84 municipalities, and 2,022 barangays in Region 10.
She said these policemen are assigned to keep an eye on some 197 villages that are “ areas of concern” in Region 10 on election day on October 30.
“We would be canceling all leaves of absence of all policemen starting next month,” Navarro told reporters.
She said 155 of the 197 barangays have already some history of political violence during the past elections and are now placed under the “orange category.”
Commission on Elections Bukidnon Provincial Supervisor Aleli Ramirez said unscrupulous persons could take advantage of the manual voting on October 30.
“It would be better that we remain vigilant and catch the culprits,” Ramirez said.
For his part, election expert lawyer Florentino Dumlao Florentino Roa Dumlao, III urged members of the Fourth Estate from various outlets here to help change the mindsets of the voters as he shared his experience during the seminar on covering the 2023 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections, here.
Dumlao shared his experience as an election lawyer in the past and he briefed media personalities on what to do in time of election coverage, particularly in the counting of ballots up to the canvassing.
He then also pointed out when and where the vote buying happened and other election-related violations as a media guide during coverage.
Dumlao said the media plays a big role in changing the mindset of the voters.
“Mag unsa man ang balaod kung walay pagsuporta labi na sa media,” he said.
Dumlao said the old cheating scheme, “Cadena de Amor” could be revived in the coming barangay elections.
Dumlao said “Cadena de Amor” starts with the first voter in the chain getting a real ballot, pretends to fill it up but inserts a fake ballot.
“That voter would give the real ballot to the next voter who would insert it into the ballot box. The voter would give his ballot to the next and the chain is now made,” Dumlao told reporters.
Dumlao also told the journalists to watch the money trail of candidates who will usually start withdrawing their money weeks before October 30.
COPC-Journalism Institute Director Froilan Gallardo and COPC Vice President for Print Leonardo Vicente ‘Cong’ B. Corrales said the purpose of the seminar was to equip members of the media on what to monitor closely to have a better reportage of the coming elections.
For his part, Dr. Manny Jaudian, chairman of the COPC-Journalism Institute proposed a media center where members of the media could go to if they experience harassment. (With reports from Edwin Iyo)
