Elections

2-Escort rule this coming 2010 elections

With the election season about to heat up, it is expected that candidates and private individuals will be requesting the Philippine National Police for police escorts to ensure their safety on the road. The Department of Interior and Local Government is preparing for the influx of requests, and this early Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno has issued a statement limiting the number of escorts that can be given to a person.

For the coming 2010 elections, there is a limit of two policemen for every person or private individual. This development was shared by the secretary on Wednesday. The department will allow more than two police escorts to a private individual or a private individual provided that the person who will request for that can show proof that his or her life is under serious threat. The official directive will come from the office of PNP Director Jesus Verzosa, and his office is bracing for an increase in requests for assistance and protection in line with the elections and the campaign period. The DILG secretary also banned the members of the elite Special Force to act as the security escorts to government and private persons. Only those who are part of the Police Security and the Protection Office will be assigned to protect and to escort the government officials and private officials this election season. The move according to Secretary Puno is their way of ‘tightening the procedure a little bit by requiring that only two security escorts be provided for each individual’. The directive to be issued by the Philippine National Police is expected to cover local chief executives.

This is not the first time that the PNP and the DILG have implemented this kind of plan and directive. The Philippine National Police has also implemented the 2-escort rule in the 2007 elections. Getting protection and assistance from the police is expected this coming season, since the elections in the country is often characterized by some forms of violence. The deployment of police officers is one way too in keeping peace, and in making sure that crimes can be prevented and violence can be limited for the coming 2010 elections.