The entire province of Siquijor has been named an election watchlist area due to potential intense political rivalry in the upcoming May 13 polls, according to key officials of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) in that island-province.
Outgoing OIC provincial election supervisor Atty. Rafael Orillana and OIC provincial police director Sr. Supt. Primitivo Tabujara confirmed this Friday following the signing of a peace covenant by majority of the political candidates seeking various provincial elective positions in Siquijor.
According to Sr. Supt. Tabujara, the potential intense political rivalry especially among candidates at the provincial level has been validated by the regional Joint Peace and Security Coordinating Center.
The province of Siquijor has a history of election related violent incidents (ERVIs) in the 2010 presidential elections as well as the Sangguniang Kabataan polls, Tabujara said, although he assured that so far there has been no reported ERVI to date since the start of the election period this year.
The police director assured that the PNP in the island-province is prepared and in fact, augmentation troops from the regional PNP office have already been deployed there.
Atty. Orillana, meanwhile, expressed hopes that the May 13 elections in Siquijor will be peaceful and orderly and not marred by any violence at all.
The COMELEC official said there is nothing to worry about so far on peace and security matters and the political climate in Siquijor is “normal”, he added.
He, however, admitted there is intense political rivalry in Siquijor but the intensity is not characterized by armed or violent threats or violence but only in terms of “lawful election propaganda”.
The peaceful and orderly attendance of majority of the political candidates at the provincial level in Friday’s signing of a peace covenant in Siquijor is a clear indication of the prevailing security conditions in the island, he noted.
Candidates for the position of governor, vice-governor, congressman and board members as well as for local elective positions attended the activity Friday at the gymnasium of the provincial capital town, also named Siquijor.
Elsewhere in the province, similar activities for the signing of a peace covenant were held simultaneously.
Aside from Comelec and PNP officials, also present to witness the peace covenant signing were members of the Diocesan Electoral Board of the Diocese of Dumaguete, led by its convenor, Msgr. Julius Heruela. (PNA)
