40 Western Mindanao, Basilan villages on poll watch list

ZAMBOANGA CITY — The police have placed at least 40 areas in Western Mindanao region and Basilan province under its watch list for possible outbreak of violence during the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections in May.

Chief Supt. Billy Beltran, regional police director, said the police drew up the watch  list after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) activated the Regional Joint Security Control (RJSC).

Sharing info

“We are presenting these areas to the [Comelec]. We are also sharing [information on] these areas with our counterparts in the military. We still have to sit down and discuss with the Armed Forces of the Philippines to validate these areas,” Beltran said.

Areas on the watch list were classified into Category 1 for villages where rivalry among contending parties were most intense, where there had been a history of violence, and the presence of loose firearms and guns for hire.

Those in Category 2 are villages facing serious threats from armed groups and where collections of permits to campaign had been reported, while Category 3 refers to areas facing moderate threats.

Beltran said two villages in La Libertad town and a village in Rizal town in Zamboanga del Norte; a village in Dinas town in Zamboanga del Sur; and 10 villages in the towns of Alicia, Buug, Payao and Tungawan in Zamboanga Sibugay fell under Category 1; while 16 villages in the towns of Leon Postigo, Sindangan, Sergio Osmeña, Siayan and Roxas in Zamboanga del Norte and eight villages in Kabasalan, Diplahan, Titay and Siay towns in Zamboanga Sibugay fell under Category 2.

Only one village in Salug town in Zamboanga del Norte fell under Category 3.

Illegal drugs

Beltran said Barangay Recodo here and Margosatubig town in Zamboanga Sibugay were also included in the watch list because of the presence of illegal drugs in these areas.

Lawyer Wilfredo Jay Balisado, Comelec director in Western Mindanao, said the RJSC would determine the final security arrangement for the elections after the filing of certificates of candidacy, set for April 14 to 20.

“[Security] arrangement will also be dramatically changed, especially in areas with intense political rivalries,” he said.

More than two million voters in the region’s 1,859 barangays are expected to cast their votes for the village polls, while 760,152 registered voters are expected to troop to precincts in the SK polls.

In Cagayan de Oro City, the Comelec in Northern Mindanao has yet to receive the list of areas considered as election concerns by the police and the military, said Renato Magbutay, Comelec regional director.

In Davao City, Chief Insp. Milgrace Driz, spokesperson for the Southern Mindanao police, said their watch list would include areas where communist rebels were operating, like the villages of Callawa in Buhangin district, Dalagdag in Calinan district and Fatima in Paquibato district. —Julie Alipala, with reports from Jigger Jerusalem and Allan Nawal