Authorities to perform plebiscite security missions under Comelec watch

COTABATO CITY - The police and military started tightening security Monday in areas where the poll body is to administer on January 21 the plebiscite for the Bangsamoro Organic Law.The exercise, to be administered by the Commission on Elections in all five provinces of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and in several towns in Regions 12 and 10 and in Isabela City under Region 9, will seal of the fate of the BOL.The BOL is also known as the Republic Act 11054, the enabling measure for the replacement of ARMM with a Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, or BARMM.In separate statements Monday, Chief Superintendent Graciano Mijares of the Police Regional Office-ARMM and Major Gen. Cirilito Sobejana said their units in areas to be subjected to the January 21 plebiscite have started imposing security measures to ensure the safety of Comelec personnel and local facilitators of the activity.The BOL is a product of 20 years of peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, premised on two compacts forged by both sides --- the 2012 Framework Agreement on Bangsamoro and, subsequently, the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro.Mijares said while the PRO-ARMM is helping facilitate cross-section dialogues on the intricacies of the BOL, it cannot campaign for either a negative or an affirmative vote during the January 21 plebiscite.He said while they do not see any security threat to the conduct of the plebiscite, their provincial police offices in Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, both in mainland Mindanao, and in the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi are not taking chances. Our security preparations are being done under the guidance of the Comelec. We are also expecting some support from the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, Mijares said.Sobejana, who has tactical control over the Army’s 601st, 602ndand 603rdBrigades and over a dozen battalions scattered in central Mindanao, said their security efforts are closely coordinated with municipal and provincial peace and order councils in Region 12 and in ARMM.Superintendent Aldrin Gonzalez, spokesman of the Police Regional Office-12 in General Santos City, said they will help the Comelec secure all the barangays in North Cotabato province where the plebiscite shall also be held.He said top officials of the Philippine National Police, among them Chief Superintendents Alfredo Valdez and the director of PRO-12, Eliseo Rasco, met in General Santos City last week to plan security preparations for the forthcoming plebiscite.Gonzalez said Rasco appreciates the support to their security missions on January 21 from various peace advocacy blocs in Region 12.He said PRO-12 will deploy its personnel in polling sites on January 21, to perform security functions under the supervision of Comelec.