MikeLigalig.com

Soldiers in Compostela Valley province spearheaded and finished the third in a series of peace rallies for honest, orderly and peaceful elections (HOPE), a military official said Sunday.

Col. Romeo Calizo, commander of the Army’s 1001st Infantry Brigade who hosted the event, said the latest HOPE rally was held Saturday at the municipal gymnasium of Maco town, Compostela Valley province.

Calizo said the half-day motorcade and peace rally that started around 8 a.m. was attended by some 1,000 local residents, candidates, local government units’ employees, non-government organizations and people’s organizations who witnessed the signing of a peace covenant among contending parties who agreed for a violence-free election in the province.

“The peaceful conduct of election this May is our main concern and by the rate we are going, we can see a bright outcome as we cast our vote barely 10 days from now,” he said.

Calizo said the overwhelming support and cooperation of the people, the candidates and other stakeholders in the peace rally “bespeak of our desire as one people to really have an honest, orderly and peaceful election.”