232 ‘areas of concern’ identified in Eastern Visayas
Eastern Visayas map. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
TACLOBAN CITY — At least 232 villages in Eastern Visayas have been closely monitored by authorities after the Philippine National Police (PNP) identified them as areas of concern ahead of the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) on Oct. 30.
Sixty areas, all in Calbayog City, Samar, have been identified as red category or areas of grave concern, a report from the PNP regional office said.
Areas of immediate concern or orange category include 52 villages in Calbayog City, Gandara, Sta. Margarita, Matuguinao, Calbiga, and Pinabacdao towns in Samar province; and Bobon, Lavezares, San Isidro, and Victoria towns in Northern Samar.
Listed as areas of concern or yellow category are 120 barangays in three provinces.
These are in Leyte and Villaba towns in Leyte province; Basey, Calbayog City, Catbalogan City, Gandara, Marabut, San Jorge, San Jose de Buan, Sta. Margarita, and Matuguinao in Samar; and Allen and Lope de Vega towns in Northern Samar.
The election areas of concern are categorized into green, yellow, orange, and red.
Green is the least among these with areas identified as generally peaceful and orderly with minimal security concerns.
Yellow refers to areas with a history of election-related incidents in the last polls and possible employment of private/partisan armed groups. Orange refers to areas of immediate concern with a serious armed threat, such as the presence of communist terrorist groups.
Red includes areas of grave concern having all these factors.
Brigadier General Vincent Calanoga, director of the Eastern Visayas police, stressed the need to establish a communication system with the village, particularly in remote areas, to improve government response on reports of election-related violent incidents.
“All security forces will be utilized in the implementation of the election gun ban. A total of 11,000 PNP personnel will be deployed in the region to ensure the safe and fair conduct of the local elections,” he said in a statement.
Comelec Eastern Visayas Acting Regional Director Felicisimo Embalsado said the Regional Joint Security Control Center met on Oct. 16 to discuss the final deployment plan to include augmentation from the military and police.
He lauded the initiatives in some parts of the region where aspirants have gathered and signed a covenant for peaceful, safe, and orderly BSKE.
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