Fewer barangays to be placed under Comelec control

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is eyeing a smaller number of barangays to be placed under its control in the Oct. 23 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) polls.

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez told reporters that most of the barangay placed under the agency’s control in the past were in Mindanao.

The barangay and SK polls in Mindanao have been postponed following the President’s declaration of martial law over the area.

“Yes, we could have a lower number of areas put under Comelec control only because we have had areas in Mindanao placed under Comelec control in the past,” Jimenez said.

However, he said, the poll body was ready to fulfill its mandate whether the number of barangay that would be placed under Comelec control was less or the same as before.

“Political rivalries, for instance, may flare up or disappear from election to election. [We] really can’t predict. It is possible that we will hover around the same levels of frequency,” he said.

Barangay placed under Comelec control more or less coincide with the “hot spots” identified by the Philippine National Police.

In the 2014 barangay elections, the PNP identified more than 6,000 hot spots, about half of which were in Mindanao.

According to Comelec Resolution No. 10199 issued last Sept. 14, any political division, subdivision, unit or area may be placed under the poll body’s “immediate and direct control and supervision” for any of the following reasons:

• There is a history or current intense rivalry among contending parties;
• Presence of private armed groups;
• Spread of loose firearms in the hands of unqualified persons;
• Serious armed threats posed by the New People’s Army, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, Abu Sayyaf group, and rogue elements of the Moro National Liberation Front and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

An area may be declared under Comelec control through either motu propio or upon submission of a request letter to the commission.