Still No Poll-Related Violence In Abra-PNP

April 5, 2019 Headlines

CAMP DANGWA, La Trinidad, Benguet (April 5, 2019) — No poll-related violence had occurred in Abra, the provincial police vowed, sounding very optimistic that the political atmosphere in the province will remain calm until the May elections.
This despite the province earlier declared by Comelec as an “area of grave concern”.
There is no record of election-related incident since the official start of the election period on January 13, the Abra police reported during the recently convened Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC) and Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Council (PADAC) joint meeting at the provincial capitol recently.
Provincial officials headed by Gov. Ma. Jocelyn Bernos were appraised by the Abra police about the security arrangements in the province
where the Comelec, military, police, DILG, other agencies and stakeholders have joined forces to ensure an orderly and peaceful elections in May.
The Abra police has also taken actions since the start of election period including the strategic deployment of policemen, intensified checkpoints and beefed up anti-criminality campaign through the “Abra Shield” strategy.
Political parties, supporters and “the community” were engaged through dialogues or “conflict mediation and diffusion”.
While the military, particularly the Philippine Army’s 24th Infantry Battalion believe the peace and order situation in Abra will continue to be manageable, citing that communist rebels operating in Abra were ‘already downgraded due to the effective implementation of the Internal Security Operation with active support of the community’.
The Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP) had continued to encourage formers rebels to surrender and reintegrate to society. Recently, 8 former communist rebels including two women received from Gov. Bernos, provincial and military officials their E-CLIP incentives to start “a new and peaceful life”.
The Abra provincial government had been on its toes in monitoring the implementation of peace and order programs in Abra, especially the situation of the government’s “all nation approach” against insurgency.

Thom Picana/ABN