PNP chief: No premature campaigning for Bong Go

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Oscar Albayalde yesterday defended former presidential assistant and senatorial candidate Christopher “Bong” Go from insinuations his presence at Camp Crame last Monday was a form of early campaigning.

Albayalde said the PNP did not violate President Duterte’s directive to stay apolitical, nothwithstanding Go’s attending the flag-raising rites and launching of the Kabataan Kontra Droga at Terrorismo.

Albayalde maintained Go’s attending the PNP events on the eve of the campaign period has nothing to do with politics.

The PNP chief said Go graced the event as he was invited as honorary chairman of the Association of Chiefs of Police of the Philippines Inc., adding the former govern- ment official never mentioned in all his speeches that people should vote for him.

“We heard and saw that he specifically mentioned that he was not there to campaign,” Albayalde said.

Go himself told the police officers and personnel not to campaign for him and other candidates.

“I hope you remember what President Duterte said to stay neutral. I’m included in that, don’t campaign for me,” Go told the police officers.

Asked if Go’s presence at the PNP national headquarters in Camp Crame was a form of campaigning, Albayalde said it depends entirely on the voting population.

“Remember, we didn’t even say to him our political preferences. There was no mention of who among the candidates should be elected,” Albayalde said.

The election watchdog Kon- tra Daya slammed Go’s attending the PNP events, saying his timing was suspicious as it occurred on the eve of the start of the campaign for the senatorial and party-list groups for the May 13 elections.

“If the PNP is indeed neutral, why did it invite a declared senatorial candidate like Go as guest of honor, even if a highranking police official was quoted as saying that Go is chairman of the Association of Chief of Police of the Philippines,” the group said in a statement.

“Lest they be accused of electioneering, all government agencies should now remove posters and campaign materials of candidates and party-list groups and prohibit the same candidates from using government resources in their campaigns,” Kontra Daya convenor Danilo Arao added.

In a related development, the PNP has identified 701 towns and cities as hotspots in the 2019 midterm elections.

Albayalde said of the number, 94 are considered as “areas of grave concern,” which increased from the previous figure of 19 last January, based on the parameters set by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

He said the areas were included in the so-called election areas of grave concern or red category, citing intense political rivalries, presence of armed groups and history of electionrelated violent incidents.

The figure is broken down into 27 areas in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), followed by 19 in the Bicol region, seven each in Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) and Western Mindanao, six each in Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan) and Western Visayas, five in Northern Mindanao, four each in Cordillera and Soccsksargen (South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos City), three in Eastern Visayas, two in Central Luzon and Davao, and one each in Caraga and Cagayan Valley.

No areas in the Ilocos region and the National Capital Region (NCR) or Metro Manila are included in the red category, Albayalde said.

Two areas – Cotabato City and Daraga, Albay – have already been placed under Comelec control.

On the other hand, a total of 223 cities and municipalities are included in the ares of concern category coded yellow, a majority of which are in ARMM with 45, followed by Ilocos with 40 and 38 in Central Luzon.

These areas were identified with intense political rivalries, previously declared under Comelec control and history of election-related violent incidents in the last two elections.

Included are five cities in NCR: Mandaluyong, Caloocan, Malabon, Pasay and Manila. Quezon City was not included despite the murder of barangay chair and congressional candidate Crisell Beltran last month.

Meanwhile, 382 are listed as areas of immediate concern or orange category where there is serious threat posed by armed groups.

Three regions with the most number include Bicol with 49 followed by 39 in Caraga and 35 in Western Visayas.

Director Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar, chief of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), said they are still studying whether to consider Quezon City as an election hotspot, adding Beltran’s murder is an “isolated” case.