Cops who didn’t register for elections to be charged

CEBU CITY — Policemen who failed to list up during the recent voter’s registration face administrative charges.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) ended the voter’s registration last Monday for the now-cancelled barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections.

Brig. Gen. Debold Sinas, chief of the Central Visayas police, said the order requiring all policemen to register came from Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters in Camp Crame.

“The order was relayed to all provincial and city police offices in the region. Those who failed to comply will be charged with administrative cases,” Sinas said.

The Central Visayas police has 10,000 uniformed and nonuniformed personnel.

Sinas said Camp Crame was alarmed that so many policemen, particularly in Central Visayas, were not able to vote in the elections last May because they did not register.

“The order is meant to encourage the policemen to exercise their rights to suffrage. It will be a big waste if some policemen will not be able to vote,” said Sinas.

To help comply with the order, an off-site registration was conducted at the police regional headquarters last week.

Off-site registrations were also set up at shopping malls.

Sinas added that the regional police will coordinate with the Comelec to identify those policemen who failed to register.

“Initially, only 80 percent of the regional police personnel was able to register. By next week, we will be able to identify the 20 percent who didn’t comply with the order,” Sinas said.