17 Western Visayas localities tagged as election ‘areas of concern’
BACOLOD CITY—The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has classified 16 towns and a city in Western Visayas as “areas of concern” or election hotspots ahead of the national and local polls in May.
Comelec Commissioner Aimee Ferolino, who heads the poll body’s committee on the ban on firearms and security concerns, presented the areas of concern in the region in a statement released on Jan. 15, grouping them under the categories “yellow,” “orange” and “red.”
The town of Calinog in Iloilo province was the lone locality classified as “red,” or an area of serious armed threats due to the presence of communist rebels in the area or other threat groups, according to Ferolino.
Areas under the “yellow” category are Isabela and San Enrique towns in Negros Occidental; Tobias Fornier town in Antique; President Roxas town in Capiz; and Ajuy, Lemery and San Dionisio towns in Iloilo.
Classified under the “orange” category are the towns of Calatrava and Cauayan and Sipalay City in Negros Occidental; Tapaz town in Capiz; and Badiangan, Janiuay, Leon, Maasin and San Joaquin towns in Iloilo.
The Comelec classifies an area as “yellow” if there is an occurrence of a suspected election-related incident in the last two elections and the existence of intense partisan political rivalry with no participation of domestic terror groups.
An area is classified as “orange” if there is a combination of two or more factors under category yellow, or serious armed threats posed by communist terrorist groups and/or other threat groups as may be declared by the competent authority.
State forces under Comelec
During the election period, the Comelec en banc can order either or both the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police to augment their forces in these areas of concern, as the need arises. The poll body can also reshuffle the police force in those areas.
Negros Occidental Provincial Elections Supervisor Ian Lee Ananoria said the classification was done by the Comelec head office based on their intelligence findings.
Ananoria noted that the classifications done in Western Visayas were similar to the list recently prepared by the Philippine Army.
The local police units have yet to identify any area of concern in Negros Occidental, he said.
