The Regional Election Monitoring Center (Remac) was launched inside the police headquarters in Camp Merecido in Barangay Catitipan, Buhangin yesterday to monitor all movements during the May 13 elections.
The monitoring center was first used in the recent Palarong Pambansa 2019.
Brig. Gen. Marcelo Morales, the director of Police Regional Office XI, said in an interview yesterday that the Remac is 100 percent ready for the coming elections. He said the system can easily be ugpraded to include facial recognition and number plate recognition.
“We are using the concept of the technology of geographical information system wherein, if there is an incident that will happen, it will plot on the map and in real time will get the information that is actually happening on the ground,” he added.
He also said the decision makers will also meet to provide appropriate and quick responses. The center will run for 24 hours, manned by IT personnel in two shifts.
“And if there is a particular place that we want to see, it can be seen immediately on the screen on what is happening, the deployment of PNP, and even the recent incidents on specific cases like robbery, homicide, physical injuries, so it can be seen here ,” he added.
Morales said the monitoring center is vital, especially this coming elections since it is the repository of all information, which will then become the basis to determine the situation on the ground to make an informed decision.
But the Remac can easily be extended past the elections, such as plotting the trends of armed movements. They are actually doing this now and they found out that rebels and criminal groups are “moving away from the city toward the countryside boundaries.”
This will then become the basis for the deployment of troops.
The regional director showed to reporters the screen map where they can see and relay the visual presentation on what is happening in the ground. They can also monitor where their personnel are at any given point in time. This ensures that they are actually performing their duties.
He said the PRO XI is first in the country to adopt geographical information system to support “smart policing using digital technology.”
“So we are the first one to set up like this although all regional police offices are required to set up the Remac,” he said.
