Comelec adopts color-coded tagging of poll hotspots

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Friday announced it has adopted a color-coded system that will identify election hotspots in the 2018 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections.

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said the system was agreed by the officials of the Comelec, the Philippine National Police, the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Armed Forces of the Philippines during a meeting on Friday.

In a press conference, Jimenez laid out the following color codes and their general covered areas for the upcoming election:

Green – generally peaceful areas

Yellow – areas with history of political unrest

Orange – areas with presence of armed groups and organized movements outside of the law

Red – critical areas

“That’s the new classifications we want to put in place. We’re finalizing it now with the participation of the AFP and the PNP. There will be a Comelec resolution to be issued to this effect,” the Comelec spokesman said.

“Wala pa tayong nilalabas na listahan na areas of concern. The PNP will be releasing that. Ang grupo na may primary responsibility to release information will be the PNP, simply because they’re the ones with the first touch sa evaluation ng mga ito,” he added.

“We are preparing for 2019. We are trying to systematize. It’s part of the ongoing process to improve electoral management,” he said.

Jimenez pointed out that declaring an area as an election hotspot without differentiating it might cause a false impression on the community and comes with security or economic costs.

“From the operational side, the point of color-coding is to define a suite of predictable response,” he added.