The Philippine National Police (PNP) is in the thick of security planning for Negros Oriental’s 3rd district special election on December 9.

The district is under Commission on Elections (Comelec) control until the end of the election period for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) on November 29.

Comelec chair George Garcia earlier mulled putting the third congressional district under their control even after November 29 and until the special poll to fill the seat vacated by expelled representative Arnolfo Teves, Jr.

The Comelec will decide on the matter next week.

“The public can be assured of a safe and secured special election since we already have a security template based on what transpired in BSKE 2023 in Negros,” Lt. Colonel Gerard Ace Pelare, spokesperson for the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas, said in an interview yesterday.

He said Negros Oriental did not record a single election-related incident during the BSKE.

“We are just going to adopt the security coverage/plan we have implemented with little modifications,” he said. (PNA)