Police forces in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) have been using the long hours of rotating brownouts in Mindanao as an opportunity to hold security dry run for the May 10 elections over possibility that there will be no additional troop deployment in the troubled region on elections day, a top regional security official said.

Chief Supt. Bienvenido Latag, ARMM police director, said they are currently maximizing the services of the 6,000 policemen under his command, deploying them even during nighttime for them to get used to all the scenarios that may occur on May 10.

“This is already a dry run for the election day, in the process we are able to conduct assessment to address possible security lapses and the things that we still need to do to ensure peace and order during the elections,” said Latag.

“We have to maximize what we have because we are not expecting additional troops coming from other areas to reinforce us since we understand that they also need them in their respective areas of jurisdiction,” he added.

Latag said they have started fielding more troops in the field, especially during night time, in anticipation of the possible increase in crime incidents caused by the rotating brownouts that usually occur at night that last for as long as eight hours.