Over 6,000 villages likely to be declared election hotspots

MANILA, Philippines—More than 6,000 barangays (villages) across the country might be declared as election hotspots due to intense political rivalry among candidates in the upcoming barangay elections on Oct. 28, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said Thursday.

Senior Supt. Reuben Theodore Sindac, PNP spokesman, said territorial police units have started assessing the security situation in these areas.

“These areas are still being validated if they should be included on the list of areas of concern,” Sindac told reporters at Camp Crame.

He said 150 other villages might also be tagged as “areas of immediate concern” in the run-up to the barangay elections, which have been historically more violent than the national polls.

Meanwhile, Sindac said 79 individuals, most of them civilians, have been arrested for violating the gun ban, which the Commission on Elections started to implement on Sept. 28.

He said the police had confiscated 65 firearms, 25 bladed weapons, 11 explosives, four grenades, three firearm replicas and 529 bullets.