ILOILO CITY - The Police Regional Office in Western Visayas (PRO6) has already conducted 121 covenant signing activities with political candidates running for various posts in the May 2022 national and local elections as of February 15.

Lt. Col. Arnel Solis, the spokesperson for the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6), said except for the province of Capiz, the covenant signing for honest, orderly, and peaceful elections is almost done in other provinces of Western Visayas since it started on January 9 this year.

"This will be a big help considering that the candidates themselves signified that they are for peaceful and orderly May 9, 2022 elections. However, we could not deny that sometimes there are incidents that do not involve candidates but their supporters," he said in an interview on Wednesday.

Some 18 covenant signings were already held in Aklan, 19 in Antique, six in Capiz, four in Guimaras, 31 in Negros Occidental, 41 in Iloilo province, and one each in highly urbanized cities of Iloilo and Bacolod.

The covenant signing is initiated by the PNP in coordination with the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the religious sector are also part of the activity.

Solis said they would know if the candidates are compliant with the covenant since there will be investigations to determine those involved in case of untoward incidents.

"With this, we are hoping and praying that it will peaceful and orderly. We see that our candidates are also cooperative," he added.

Not all invited candidates were able to join due to other important activities, Solis said, but still, they recognized the invitation of the local police.

In addition to covenant signing, there were also prayer rallies led by religious and community leaders.

"Our candidates are always welcome to join in the prayer rally. We need that because, despite our preparations, we are not sure what will happen. So it is better that we always have prayers," the spokesperson added.

He said that municipal police stations are encouraged to complete the covenant signing before the start of the campaign period for local candidates on March 25. (PNA)