PNP says to activate own vote buying monitoring team

MANILA - The Philippine National Police will activate its own vote buying monitoring team to assist the Commission on Elections, its spokesperson said Friday.

The team will be activated "from regional headquarters down to municipal stations," said Col. Jean Fajardo.

"We will be closely coordinating with Comelec with respect to these reports and we will be assisting the Comelec in the filing of cases relative to reports of vote buying," she told ANC's Headstart.

The PNP has so far validated 14 election-related incidents as of May 4, a decrease from 60 in 2019 and 133 in 2016, Fajardo said.

"Majority" of the incidents comprised of grave threat, life threats, and physical injuries, she added.

"We are hoping the security coverage laid down by security forces will be effective and we will not foresee any violent election-related incident 3 days prior to the conduct of elections this Monday," she said.

At least 24 towns and cities have been declared under Comelec control and these will be the focus of the deployment of the police, military and Philippine Coast Guard on Monday, Fajardo said.

• Misamis Occidental province, Pilar town in Abra placed under Comelec control