Police assure neutrality in Mandaue elections

Police Brigadier General Debold Sinas, regional director of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), holds dialogue with Mandaue City Mayor Gabriel Luis Quisumbing, City Director Police Colonel Julian Entoma, Commission on Elections (Comelec) and chiefs of police in preparation for the midterm polls this Monday, May 13. | CDN Digital Photo/Rosalie O. Abatayo

MANDAUE CITY, Cebu — Amid allegations of police ‘bias’ in neighboring Cebu City, the police in Mandaue City has vowed to maintain impartiality in securing the May 13 midterm elections.

On Friday, May 10, the police and Commission on Elections (Comelec) office in Mandaue City conducted a dialogue with Mandaue City Mayor Gabriel Luis Quisumbing to discuss the preparations they made for the polls this Monday, May 13.

A similar dialogue was also called last Saturday, May 4, with the group of mayoral candidate and sixth district Representative Jonas Cortes.

Read more: Sinas to supporters of Mandaue candidates: Keep a level head

Police Colonel Julian Entoma, Mandaue City Police Office (MCPO) director, also said that they have not monitored any threat to sabotage the election proceedings in the city.

“So far we have not received any information of any threat to destabilize the election proceedings,” Entoma said.

Read more: Mandaue Comelec to allow police officers inside voting centers

The police already kicked off with the deployment of the personnel, who will be securing the 27 voting centers in the city.

Read more: Police deployment to Mandaue polling centers starts

At least 150 policemen are detailed in voting centers and in 7 quick response units scattered in strategic locations in the city since Thursday, May 9. They are now securing the vote counting machines (VCMs) that are now kept in schools.

The Comelec also conducted the final testing and sealing of the VCMs on Friday morning.

According to the Comelec inventory, at least 6 out of the 244 voting machines were found to be defective.

Read more: Comelec sends VCMs, VRVMs to Mandaue City voting centers

Sarah Reuyan, election assistant of Comelec Mandaue City, however, assured that they had enough contingency VCMs to replace the defective ones.

Meanwhile, the two political groups in Mandaue City simultaneously conducted their miting de avance on Friday night.

Team Mandaue headed by Cortes conducted their rally at an open space at the Mandaue Reclamation Area near the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) while Quisumbing’s Hugpong Mandauehanon para sa Pagbabago held their program in Barangay Paknaan./dbs