PERSONNEL ACCOUNTING. Pangasinan Police Provincial Office director Col. Rollyfer Capoquian addresses policemen during the accounting of personnel in this undated photo. Pangasinan PPO is set to deploy around 3,382 personnel to man checkpoints and increase police visibility as the election period begins on Jan. 12, 2025. (Photo courtesy of Pangasinan PPO)
MALASIQUI, Pangasinan – The Pangasinan Police Provincial Office (PPO) is set to deploy around 3,382 personnel to man checkpoints and increase police visibility as the election period begins on Jan. 12.
In a phone interview on Friday, Pangasinan PPO information officer Lt. Trisha Mae Guzman said the personnel will be assigned to police assistance desks, quick response teams, and polling centers during the May 12 mid-term polls.
Of the total, some 88 personnel will come from the Provincial Mobile Force Company (PMFC).
She said the PMFC would serve as an augmentation to the quick response teams.
The province of Pangasinan will have 2,869 clustered precincts in 1,204 voting centers for its over 2.1 million registered voters in the upcoming polls, according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
“More and more frequent checkpoints are expected once the election period begins, and it will intensify as the election day nears,” Guzman said in Filipino.
Guzman said they activated the Provincial Election Monitoring Action Center (PEMAC) on Jan. 6 to ensure a safe and orderly electoral process across the province.
She said the PEMAC will serve as the central command post for monitoring and consolidating election-related information and will provide real-time support to personnel deployed in the field.
“We also ask the cooperation of the people to be vigilant and report any suspicious activities to the police,” she added.
Seven localities in Pangasinan have been placed in the yellow category because they have previous incidents of suspected election-related incidents (ERIs).
These are the cities of Dagupan and Urdaneta, as well as the towns of Aguilar, Binmaley, Malasiqui, Mangaldan, and Sual. (PNA)