The Philippine National Police will step up security measures to full alert status for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) elections in western Mindanao on Monday, said a PNP spokesman on Saturday.

PNP spokesman Leopoldo Bataoil said that the alert will be raised from heightened to full over the weekend in ARMM region, which covers six provinces in western and southwestern Mindanao.

"We will raise the alert level to full alert status. We ensure policemen will observe the preparation to have peaceful elections," he said on local radio DZMM.

The PNP has earlier identified 115 places as those where incidents are likely to take place during the polls.

The ARMM was created under a 1996 peace agreement between the government and the former separatist group Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and is comprised of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Tawi-tawi, Basilan, Sulu and Marawi.

Some of the provinces were frequent battlefields between government troops and Muslim insurgents loyal to jailed former MNLF chief Nur Misuari, charged with sedition by government after his extradition by Malaysia in 2001.

A bomb attack took place last week in a marketplace in Cotabato City in Maguindanao where the ARMM regional government is located,injuring at least four people. Police blamed the Abu Sayyaf group for the attack.

Twenty-five positions, including the post of governor and 24 assembly seats, are being contested in the elections.

The PNP and the Armed Forces of the Philippines have been called in by the independent Commission on Elections to secure the elections.

The military has set up a task force to participate in security operations during the election.

The Organization of Islamic Conference and the United States have sent some observers to watch the election at the invitation of Philippine government.

The last elections in ARMM for the local gubernatorial seat were held in 2002.

Source: Xinhua