The Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office (NOPPO) said yesterday it needs 347 additional personnel for its staffing requirements and election duty.

Lt. Stephen Polinar, NOPPO spokesperson, said this comes amid the transition from being under Police Regional Office 7 (PRO-7) to the Police Regional Office-Negros Island Region (PRO-NIR).

Polinar said PRO-7 could no longer provide additional police personnel to Negros Oriental after the province was officially separated from the Central Visayas region.

“The PRO-NIR has committed to supplement the lacking variance of the number of PNP [Philippine National Police] personnel that we need for the MNLE [May 12 national and local elections],” he said in an interview.

On his visit to the province on Monday, April 7, Brigadier General Jack Wanky, the newly designated PRO-NIR OIC director, committed to provide the additional manpower, outsourcing from the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office and the Bacolod City Police Office.

The Philippine Army, the Philippine Coast Guard, and the Bureau of Fire Protection are also being tapped to augment police personnel for poll duty.

Meanwhile, Commission on Elections-NIR regional director Lionel Marco Castillano said he is optimistic that more than enough uniformed personnel will be deployed to the region for election duty.

Castillano said a Regional Joint Security Control Center meeting is scheduled tentatively on April 23 in Bacolod City to discuss the security deployment plan for the Final Testing and Sealing (FTS) of automated counting machines and on election day.

The FTS is scheduled at least five days before the election day to ensure that the machines are operational. (PNA)