PMA to augment Baguio, Benguet security for polls

By Dexter A. See

BAGUIO CITY — Enlisted personnel and selected cadets from the Philippine Military Academy here will temporarily fill up the vacuum left by two groups of city and provincial public safety management companies in this mountain resort city and in nearby Benguet province deployed earlier in the conflict-stricken province of Abra to beef up the security in the place.

This was disclosed by Chief Supt. Villamor Bumanglag, regional police director, who added deployment of more policemen and military in Abra is based on recommendations of independent groups conducting an assessment and evaluation of the situation in the place.

The two groups from the city and provincial public safety maneuver companies are composed of 240 elements that are considered as one of the elite forces of the Philippine National Police.

Before the two companies of policemen were deployed in Abra, Bumanglag said they sought assistance of the PMA in filling the vacuum left by the forces until after the elections and when the situation normalizes in the province.

According to Bumanglag, those to be deployed by PMA are of equal competence to the re-assigned law enforcers, thus, local residents in Baguio and Benguet need not to worry about the situation because the strength of the city and provincial police offices are still enough to maintain peace and order in the areas.

Bumanglag said the law enforcers were pulled out from Baguio and Benguet because the said places have been assessed and evaluated as the most peaceful places in the region during elections.

The pullout of the policemen and their deployment to Abra passed through rigid assessment of the risks involved and its benefits.

At present, there are at least 1,500 police and military deployed in Abra to keep the province from violence during elections.

While various sectors assured their support to peace initiatives in the province, Bumanglag said there should be no time to relax since unscrupulous individuals might take advantage of the situation and resort to politically-motivated violence just to advance their own personal and political interests.