Police bares NPA plan to disrupt Masbate elections

By Ronron
May 11, 2007

The Philippine National Police (PNP) revealed on Friday an alleged plot of communist rebels to disrupt the elections this Monday in Masbate province.

Chief Supt. Samuel Pagdilao, Jr., spokesman of the PNP, said the plot was contained in a document seized by government troops from an encounter site between members of the PNP Special Action Force (SAF) and the New People’s Army (NPA) last month.

Chief Supt. Leocadio Santiago, Jr., head of the PNP SAF, said the NPA allegedly plans to carry out ballot-snatching and prevent people from voting, based on the document.

“Apparently, to break the confinement and to divert the offensive of our troops, the insurgents plotted to destabilize the conduct of election by orchestrating power failure, armed attacks on bridges, and even mobilizing their sectoral groups to stage mass rallies and demonstrations during the election day,” he said.

The document was seized from a safehouse of suspected NPA rebels in Barangay Lahong, Bolino town where members of the PNP SAF clashed with some 50 heavily armed rebels.

Apart from the document, the SAF troopers recovered several firearms and ammunitions from said house.

As a result, two companies of the PNP SAF were deployed to the province about two weeks ago to augment the existing police force in the province and the initially deployed PNP-SAF company in early April.

Santiago said the SAF troopers were ordered to intensify security operations on vital installations like powerlines, bridges, and government offices which may be subject of NPA attacks.

“The deployment of additional SAF operatives in Masbate is part of the contingency plan of the PNP in preempting these threats and to ensure a high level of security from opening to closing of polling precincts in the province,” Santiago said.

Masbate is among the provinces placed under Comelec control due to intense political rivalry and heightened insurgency attacks./DMS