Ben Madilynn
DAVAO CITY — The Police Regional Office-Davao Region (PRO-Davao) remains vigilant and uncomplacent despite the ‘green’ classification of the Davao region, or having no identified areas of concern, ahead of the upcoming 2025 midterm elections.
“Dili pasabot nga green ta, walay areas of concern, nibaba pod ang atoang level sa pagbantay nga mamahimong free, honest ug successful ang pagahimuong national and local elections (This doesn’t mean that even if we are categorized under ‘green’ and there are no areas of concern, our level of vigilance to ensure that the upcoming national and local elections will be free, honest, and successful, has also decreased),” PRO-Davao spokesperson PMaj. Catherine Dela Rey said during the Kapehan sa Dabaw on Monday, January 20.
She said, “Wala ta naga kompiyansa ana, naga monitor gihapon ta sa mga nigadgan nga mga kandidato, naga-coordinate gihapon ta sa ilaha kung naa ba threats sa ilahang kinabuhi
(We are not complacent about that. We are still monitoring the candidates and coordinating with them to see if there are any threats to their lives).”
However, Dela Rey said they are not dismissing the possibilities of certain areas in the region hat might be reclassified to higher categories and assured that they are prepared to respond.
“If ever naay mag-arise, January pa man ta karon padulong pa pod ta sa May, naka-andam man pod ta na motugon kung naa man gali (If ever there are areas declared as election hotspots, as it’s still January, we’re still on our way to May. We’re ready to respond if something comes up),” Dela Rey added.
She added that this response could be the deployment of additional police personnel in the areas, especially during election day, to enforce security measures.
“Kung naa man gali area of concern, magdungag ta para didto, na man pod tay reserve (If there were declared areas of concern, we would deploy more police personnel to that area. We will still have a reserve personnel for that),” she shared.
However, she explained that only Comelec would determine whether certain areas are to be declared as areas of concern, noting that one of the primary bases is election-related violence, which, so far, no election-related violence has been recorded in the region.
While there have been no changes in the election status in the region so far, Dela Rey said they are currently focusing on giving security to election campaigns and other related activities.
She added that to ease heated political rivalries during the campaign period, especially among their supporters, they set to conduct a series of activities with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the candidates themselves for peaceful campaigning.
“Kani para dili pod ingon nga moabot sa init kaayu ang ilahang pagahimoon nga campaign, ilabi na sa mga supporters kay mao na dayon na mag-init ang ulo, magaway ayaw dayon (This is so that their campaign doesn’t get too heated, especially among supporters, because tensions and conflicts can escalate when things get heated),” she explained.
Wwith the activation of the Regional Election Monitoring Action Center (REMAC), Dela Rey said that they are also currently strengthening their monitoring and enforcement of election-related regulations, such as the gun ban.
For instance, as of January 20, Dela Rey reported four violations of the gun ban across the region since its implementation. Two were apprehended during police operations, while the others were during buy-bust operations.
As the election period started, Dela Rey said their police personnel were ready for deployment.
On election day, Dela Rey revealed that around 6,000 police personnel would be deployed to voting centers and hubs, Comelec Comelec offices, and others. PIA DAVAO
