More than 1,000 joint police and military checkpoints have been set up across the country ahead of elections for village officials and youth councils on Oct. 25, police said Sunday. In a statement, police spokesman Senior Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr. said some 1,300 checkpoints have been set up to enforce a gun ban and prevent violence before and during the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabatan polls. Cruz said police will set up more checkpoints in at least 2,300 violence-prone villages a few days before the elections depending on its own assessment and that of the military. Cruz said security forces are trying to prevent the proliferation of loose firearms and see to it that armed groups or private armies don't intimidate voters to support their candidates. Until Sunday, 10 people, including a newly hired jail guard, have been arrested since the nationwide gun ban was enforced at 12:01 A.M. Saturday. The gun ban will be lifted at midnight on Nov. 10. Topping the list of areas where security is a primary concern is Western Visayas, which has the most number of checkpoints with 174, Cruz said. Eastern Visayas comes next with 147. Cruz said many areas in the two regions are likely to be declared election hot spots due to heated political rivalry and presence of armed groups, particularly the communist rebels. Other regions where checkpoints have been set up are Cagayan Valley with 47 areas; Cordillera Administrative Region, 78; Mimaropa (Mindoro provinces, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan), 59; Bicol, 44; Central Visayas, 68; Zamboanga Peninsula, 60; Northern Mindanao, 92; Southern Mindanao, 42; Central Mindanao, 53; Caraga, 56; and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, 36. Cruz said police forces in Metro Manila, Ilocos region, Central Luzon and Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) have not submitted their reports yet on how many checkpoints were set up in their respective areas. He said some 10,000 policemen have been sent to man the checkpoints, adding that the military is expected to deploy the same number of soldiers. – SG Top officials of the police, the military and the Commission on Elections had agreed on the deployment of soldiers as back up to the police force in each area where checkpoints are set up.
