3 election hotspots tagged in Negros

BACOLOD CITY: Three areas has been identified by the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO) as potential election hotspots in the May 9 national and local elections.

The NOCPPO identified Moises Padilla in the fifth district and Escalante City in the first district as areas of concern in the province. The third area, however, has not been named by the provincial police.

Lt. Abegael Donasco, NOCPPO public information officer, said the third area is in the south.

Donasco said authorities have identified the presence of armed groups and previous political rivalries among candidates in the area.

During the last elections, because of the intense political violence and rivalry in Moises Padilla, President Rodrigo Duterte himself visited the town to assure residents that it is safe to vote.

During the 2019 polls, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) used color coding in classifying election hotspots. These are Category Green, Category Yellow, Category Orange and Category Red.

Category Green refers to areas that do not have security concerns and are generally peaceful and orderly, while Category Yellow refers to areas of concern, which means that these have a history of election-related incidents in the last two elections and intense political rivalry had been previously declared under Comelec control.

Category Orange, meanwhile, refers to areas of immediate concern where there is serious armed threat posed by the New People's Army (NPA), Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) and other lawless elements. Category Red means areas of grave concern which exhibit combined factors under the yellow and orange categories that may warrant the motu proprio (on one's own initiative) declaration of Comelec control.

Source: TheManila Times