Marines to help secure polling sites in Maguindanao

MAGUINDANAO --- A contingent from the Philippine Marine Corps will help Army and police units secure polling sites in this province on Monday.

Major Gen. Cirilito Sobejana of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division told reporters Sunday among those they are to guard tightly are Datu Odin Sinsuat, Sultan Mastura and Sultan Kudarat towns in the first district of Maguindanao.

He said a composite group from the 1st Marine Brigade and the 2nd Marine Battalion shall help the Commission on Elections oversee the conduct of Monday’s polling in Datu Odin Sinsuat.

The command center of 6th ID is inside Camp Siongco which is located in Datu Odin Sinsuat in northwest of Maguindanao.

Brig. Gen. Graciano Mijares, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, on Sunday briefed during separate meetings the police personnel in 11 towns in the first district of Maguindanao on the intricacies of the joint election security program of PRO-BARMM and 6th ID.

“Mindanao is under martial law. Politicians and their supporters must think many times over before committing any election offense,” Mijares told reporters while inspecting police units in the first district of Maguindanao on Sunday morning.

Sobejana said the 6th ID has deployed enough soldiers in all of Maguindanao’s 36 towns to secure the conduct of the May 13 synchronized local and senatorial elections in the province.

“Because Mindanao is under martial law, we have a wider scope of authority in addressing any security issue on Monday,” Sobejana said.

Sobejana and Mijares separately said their joint security efforts in Maguindanao are under the direct supervision of Comelec.

Many towns in the province are locked in violent showdowns among influential clans squabbling for local elective positions.