The Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) has deployed 310 of its personnel to Negros Oriental to beef up security operations for the May 12 national and local elections on the other side of the island.
The send-off ceremony, with the prayer and blessing officiated by Fr. Chris Gonzales, was held at the Bacolod City police headquarters Tuesday morning.
“The augmentation force for the Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office will come from BCPO to address their needs there this coming election,” Brig. Gen. Arnold Thomas Ibay, officer-in-charge of Police Regional Office-Negros Island Region (PRO-NIR), said.
The recommendation of the PRO-NIR to deploy augmentation personnel from Bacolod to Negros Oriental was approved by the Regional Joint Security Coordinating Center during its meeting in Sibulan, Negros Oriental, on April 28.
Ibay said that regionwide, about 7,000 PNP personnel and troops from the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine Coast Guard will be deployed to secure the upcoming elections.
“We have covered all the areas here (in the region). We already have a deployment. We’re good to go,” he said.
According to the Commission on Elections (Comelec), two local government units in Negros Oriental – Guihulngan City and La Libertad town– have been placed under the red category, or areas with serious armed threats and history of election-related incidents.
The other 23 cities and municipalities are under the yellow category for having a history of political unrest or tension.
In October 2023, the Comelec placed Negros Oriental under its control for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections, in the wake of the assassination of then Governor Roel Degamo in March that year.
For the 2025 midterm elections, 31 of the 32 local government units in Negros Occidental, including Bacolod City, have been placed under the green category or without election-related security concerns.
Candoni town has been listed under orange category due to serious armed threats.
The island-province of Siquijor, considered as generally peaceful, is also under the green category.*PNA