The May 10 local and national elections are expected to be packed with intensity and unpredictability. Things may come up out of the blue, and everyone should be prepared for the worst things to come. A peaceful election is what all of us wish, and hopefully, it will be secured by our protectors, the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Last Monday, according to a military spokesperson, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will be on a red alert all over the country red alert starting Friday. This rank of situation is the highest security status — in preparation for the upcoming May polls.
Col. Ricardo Nepomuceno of the military’s Task Force Honest, Orderly and Peaceful Elections (HOPE) said to reporters yesterday, the red alert status will remain lifted until May 20 which was declared ten days ahead of the polls.
“We want to be prepared, especially since that [period] covers the time of the delivery of the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines. We want to make sure that we are monitoring what’s happening to the PCOS,” he said.
The entire military officers are required to be on their posts at all times upon declaration of a red alert status. The Commission on Elections (Comelec), through three forwarding companies, began delivering the poll machines to precincts in the Visayas and Mindanao previously this month. Over half of the PCOS machines have been delivered to their respective hubs, the poll body declared last Monday.
“We are monitoring that (transport of the PCOS machines) but the responsibility of the transportation lies with the Comelec-designated forwarders but we are assisting them. We are securing them,” said Nepomuceno.
Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales had previously positioned the Armed Forces at the full disposal of the Comelec to guarantee the peaceful conduction of elections in May.
