Police Brigadier General Roque Eduardo Vega, Police Regional Office director.
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The top official of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7) is reminding policemen in in the region to stay apolitical, especially as the election period draws near.
Police Brigadier General Roque Eduardo Vega, PRO-7 director, made this call as they are now preparing for the campaign period, which is from January 9, 2022, to June 8, 2022.
Vega said that they are also reminding policemen about this since some are expected to provide security services to candidates who will be asking for it.
“Nag gather pa tayo ng information then we will consider this dun sa ating deployment plan. So until now, ina-assess pa rin natin. With the adjustment, tuloy parin yung ating deployment plan kasi mahirap mag relax, kasi pwedeng tumaas na naman…[for the coming campaign period] maintain apolitical, neutral,” Vega said.
(We are still gathering information and then we will consider this into our deployment plan. So until now, we are still assessing. With the adjustment, we assure that we continue our deployment plan because it is hard to be complacent, it could result in another surge. [For the coming campaign period] maintain apolitical, neutral.)
For those who will be asking for security services from the policemen, specifically for this coming election period, Vega advised them to visit the procedure provided by the Police Security and Protection Group (PSPG), the national support unit of the Philippine National Police (PNP) providing professional protective security services.
According to the PSPG on its website, pnppspg.org, the group is mandated to secure and protect elected and appointed national government officials, visiting dignitaries, and vital government installation events, among others.
Vega added that they are still processing the possible safety measures that they have as they expect adjustments since the quarantine status in Cebu is downgraded to Alert Level 2.
READ: What to Expect: Entire Cebu under Alert Level 2
However, Vega also reminds candidates to follow the dos and don’ts during the campaign period as they also anticipate an influx of supporters in these coming days, considering that there is still a threat of the COVID-19 virus.
Rest assured, Vega said that there is police visibility and police deployment in areas of convergence here to make sure that the health protocols are followed during the election season.
READ: PNP chief to cops: Don’t engage in politics with polls drawing near
/bmjo