FILE PHOTO: Interior Secretary Eduardo Año. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NINO JESUS ORBETA
MANILA, Philippines — Some 105 municipalities and 15 cities across the country have been labeled as “red” spots for the elections this May, according to Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Thursday.
“We already have the list of the election areas of concern and what we call the hotspots and particularly the red-tagged areas. I think we have about 15 cities and 105 municipalities,” he said during a joint press briefing of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and Commission on Elections (Comelec).
Police Lt. Gen. Ferdinand Divina, the Philippine National Police’s deputy chief for operations and head of the police task force for the 2022 polls, confirmed Año’s data, adding they will keep a closer look at those areas.
“Pertaining to the election areas of concern, which are classified as red, necessitates more focused deployment and operations on the PNP,” Divina said.
“The specifics of this number are already available to the directorate but we will always seek the clearance of the Comelec for such release because we are a deputized agency of the Comelec,” he added.
Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez, on the other hand, said further validation of data on the 120 “red” areas is still ongoing.
“We hope that within the week, within what’s left of the week, we will be able to release the final list of areas under concern,” Jimenez said.
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