Election monitoring teams visit 27 jails in Bicol

LEGAZPI CITY, Feb. 7 (PNA) -– The regional election monitoring center (REMAC) based in Camp Gen. Simeon Ola in this city has conducted random visits on 27 jails across Bicol region in the past two weeks. The visit aims to make an inventory of inmates in each jail facility to prevent possible use of prisoners as either hit men or private armed groups (PAG) of politicians relative to the upcoming midterm elections this year. This was revealed in REMAC’s Feb. 5 report to the National Election Monitoring Action Center (NEMAC) in Camp Crame in response to the latter’s memorandum issued last Jan. 22 requiring relentless monitoring operations on election-related law enforcement and periodic submission of accomplishments. During the period, police checkpoints for the implementation of election gun ban were conducted in 156 locations by 136 teams composed of town or city police and members of the Regional Public Safety Battalion and at least two operations against PAGS were launched. On information dissemination and community outreach, the Bicol regional police took part in the following: information drive and distribution of Safe and Fair elections (SAFE) flyers-48, peace dialogues–four, coordination conference–six, seminars and lectures–three, and candidates forum–one. The report also revealed only four firearms were processed for license renewal during the period. (PNA)