TACLOBAN CTY — The Philippine National Police regional office in Eastern Visayas deployed 106 to five towns of Leyte’s third congressional district to ensure peace and order as the election seasons started during the filing of candidacy.
Police Lt. Mary Antonette Espina, spokesperson of the Leyte Police Provincial Office, said the 106 police personnel from the regional office were deployed starting last 5 October and will be staying indefinitely.
Espina said 24 of the cops were deployed in the town of Leyte; 24 to Villaba, 20 to San Isidro; 16 to Calubian and four to Tabango.
“The deployment of personnel was based on the need for additional manpower in the barangay level,” Espina said.
Meanwhile, Leyte Governor Carlos Jericho Petilla said it is necessary to contain the political violence in the third district to avoid spilling it over to the fourth district.
Leyte’s third district is a traditional hotspot every election due to the high incidence of political killings.
Petilla said that before this additional deployment of manpower in the five municipalities, the Philippine National Police still had over 1,000 personnel deployed in the congressional district to provide security and police visibility.
He said that before former DILG Secretary Benjamin Abalos resigned from his post to file his candidacy for senator, he made a commitment to keep the personnel in the third district until the 2025 local and national elections are over.
“I know this is costly due to the big number of policemen deployment but it has to be done. There is no price for peace,” Petilla said.