Security ironed out for plebiscite on 8 new BARMM towns
COTABATO CITY — Security measures for the April 13 plebiscite for the creation of eight towns in 63 Bangsamoro barangays in Cotabato province in Region 12 are in place, officials said on Wednesday.
Major Gen. Alex S. Rillera, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, and Brig. Gen. Augustus P. Placer, Region 12 police director, separately assured the Commission on Elections (Comelec) that they have enough personnel and logistics to secure all polling areas.
Comelec Chairman George Erwin M. Garcia met with both security forces officials during his in General Santos City last Tuesday.
“Our security preparations are in place. Our units in the municipalities where these 63 barangays are located have long prepared for this activity,” Mr. Rillera was quoted as telling Mr. Garcia.
He said that even the governor of Cotabato, Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza, who is chairperson of the provincial Peace and Order Council (POC), had assured him of her all-out support on security.
The plebiscite in the 63 Bangsamoro barangays in different towns Cotabato province is a requisite for the creation of the eight municipalities based on enabling measures approved by the 80-member parliament of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). — John Felix M. Unson