NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUE/OCT. 31, 2018: Vicente Agdamag, deputy director general of the National Security Council, discusses the National Security Strategy (NSS) for the period 2017 to 2022 in yesterdays press briefing in the office of the Public Information Agency.(CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)
THE National Securities Commission (NSC) is now formulating strategies to prevent drug money from being used to fund campaigns in the upcoming 2019 elections.
Vicente Andamag, Deputy Director of the NSC said that illegal drugs and corruption are one of the biggest internal threats to the security of the country.
“We will look into the illegal drugs, the money used, and the narco-politics. As early as now, the campaign against illegal drugs is strengthened in order to prevent it from influencing the elections,” said Andamag.
Andamag admits that the coming national elections will be challenging as they expect rampant vote buying a”d the possible tampering of ballots by some politicians or political parties.
Andamag said they will also look into the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines to check their performance and data security.
Government agencies such as the law enforcement agencies and Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) are working together to neutralize these possible threats to the elections in line with the National Security Strategy (NSS).
He said the NSS for 2017-2022 is a first of its kind, as a formal published material that will serve as a road map to fulfill the general goals of the National Security Policy (NSP).
While the NSP provides the general policies to achieve a security vision, the NSS articulates in operational terms the policies set forth in the NSP.
Included in the NSS are the strategies to be observed in times of external threats like invasion and also internal operations such as education.
He also said rebel groups such as the Communist Party of the Philippines – New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) pose a threat to
security.
He added that the NSC is continuously working to neutralize rebel groups and assure that the students are protected from them.