300 Caraga cops tapped to serve as poll workers in BARMM
SAN FRANCISCO, AGUSAN DEL SUR, Philippines — At least 300 police officers from the Caraga region will be deployed for the historic Bangsamoro parliamentary elections on Sept. 14 to serve as electoral board members in areas where teachers are unable to serve as board of election inspectors due to security or other personal reasons.
Personnel from the Police Regional Office-13 (PRO-13) underwent electoral training over the weekend as part of preparations for the parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
The two-day training, conducted by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) at the PRO-13 Multi-Purpose Center in Camp Col. Rafael C. Rodriguez in Libertad, Butuan City, was part of government efforts to ensure orderly, peaceful and credible elections in the Bangsamoro region.
READ: Comelec sets sights on accurate, fair BARMM polls
Brig. Gen. Rolindo Suguilon, PRO-13 regional director, and attorney Edwin Cadungog, Comelec Caraga regional director, led the opening program on Saturday.
Duties
Suguilon reminded the police officers who would be deployed to the BARMM to uphold discipline, integrity and professionalism while performing their election duties.
“Let us demonstrate the highest level of discipline and professionalism as we fulfill our mandate in support of the Comelec and our fellow Filipinos during the 2026 BARMM parliamentary election,” he said.
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Comelec trainers briefed police personnel on the duties and responsibilities of electoral board members, including voting procedures, ballot counting and the transmission of election results.
Participants also underwent hands-on training on the operation of the automated counting machine kit and were oriented on contingency measures to address technical problems that may arise on Election Day.
Augmentation
The Comelec has been tapping police personnel to serve as electoral board members in areas where regular teachers may be unavailable or where additional election personnel are needed, particularly in areas with security concerns.
Brig. Gen. Christopher Abecia, Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region director, said around 5,000 augmentation police personnel from Police Regional Offices 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 (Caraga) are expected to arrive on Sept. 8.
The additional forces will include quick reaction teams, while about 2,000 personnel will remain on standby as replacement members of electoral boards in case teachers assigned to polling stations withdraw or fail to report on election day.
On Wednesday, the Comelec held its final command conference for the first Bangsamoro parliamentary elections in Parang, Maguindanao del Norte, where it discussed with the security sector and local government leaders preparations and measures for the historic BARMM parliamentary polls. /cb
