TACLOBAN CITY, June 11 -- The Police Regional Office (PRO) 8 (Eastern Visayas) is confident of a more peaceful 2026 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) following the deployment of 302 police officers to hotspot areas in Leyte province.

Lt. Col. Analiza Armeza, PRO-8 spokesperson, said on Thursday that police personnel under the Regional Task Force "Kamurayaw" (peace) were deployed on June 10, some five months before the Nov. 2 BSKE, as part of its intensified security preparations.

They will be augmented at police stations in the 3rd and 4th legislative districts in Leyte, where election-related violence has been recorded in every poll season.

"The task force is expected to conduct focused anti-criminality operations, s...