The Philippine National Police (PNP) has placed 187,000 personnel on heightened alert across the nation in preparation for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) commencing on Thursday.
“Ang total na ide-deploy po natin for the purposes ng BSKE elections po ay nasa 187,000 plus PNP personnel, nationwide po iyan,” PNP spokesperson Police Colonel Jean Fajardo said.
“Asahan niyo naka-heightened alert na po ang PNP dito sa sampung araw na campaign period,” she added.
According to Fajardo, the PNP will maintain a heightened alert status until Election Day on October 30, and this status will persist through the All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day break on November 1 and 2.
Meanwhile, as of Wednesday, a total of 88 suspected election violence incidents have been reported, with eight of them confirmed to be related to the elections.
Additionally, Fajardo mentioned that 1,544 individuals have been apprehended, and 1,138 firearms have been seized due to violations of the gun ban.
There are 356 election areas of concern categorized as red, 1,325 falling into the orange category, and 1,196 designated as yellow areas.
Yellow areas may experience intense partisan political rivalry, with candidates potentially involving partisan armed groups. Some of these areas may have been previously placed under the control of the Comelec.
Orange areas exhibit two or more factors from the yellow category or face a serious armed threat from local terrorist groups and other threat groups.
BSKE 2023 campaign period begins
The red category encompasses areas with one or more factors outlined in the yellow category and faces significant armed threats posed by local terrorist groups.
Comelec has additionally pinpointed 2,518 barangays as areas of concern.
Regarding the 2023 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE), there are 294,007 Sangguniang Barangay seats available and 295,007 Sangguniang Kabataan posts to be occupied.
The previous Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections took place on May 14, 2018.
Candidates running for barangay and SK positions are permitted to conduct their campaigns from October 19 until October 28, concluding on the day preceding the election.
Comelec will enforce a liquor ban from October 29 to 30, as stated in Comelec Resolution 10924.
The elections are scheduled for October 30, with voting hours set from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
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