Comelec to release 'areas of concern' list this week
MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections will release this week its list of “election areas of concern,” which it previously called “election hotspots.”
Commissioner George Erwin Garcia said the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines have submitted their list of areas categorized under green, yellow, orange and red.
“‘Yan po asahan niyo po siguro hanggang Thursday ay mag-a-announce ang Comelec sa pamamagitan ng en banc,” Garcia said in a “Laging Handa” public briefing on Monday.
(You can expect maybe until Thursday that the Comelec will announce [the list] through the en banc.)
Last December, the PNP said it is monitoring over 500 potential areas of concern, which includes 488 towns and 58 cities. The commission, along with the PNP and the AFP, classify areas in the country according to the kind of security places need during the elections.
Areas classified as “green” are those that do not have any security concerns and are considered generally peaceful and orderly amid the polling season.
On the other hand, category “yellow” are areas with some history of violence due to the election or those with intense political rivalry sans the involvement of terror groups.
Meanwhile, “orange” areas are places that have the qualifications to be categorized as “yellow,” but experience armed threats from domestic terror groups and other forces.
Those classified as “red” areas have a history of violence, the existence of political rivalries, and experience threats of armed terror groups that are recognized by a relevant government agency. This may warrant the area to be under COMELEC control.
In a statement in February, the Action Network Human Rights - Philippines noted that poll-related campaigns in the country “are historically marked by violence” with unrest often about by rivalry, warlordism, vote-buying, corruption, among others.
“I-aannounce po natin kung ano talaga ‘yung mga areas of concern lalo na yung red, lalo na yung bibigyan natin ng pagtutok at pagtuon sa napakataas na posibilidad ng violence o kaya matindi talaga yung laban o awayan ng mga kandidato lalo pa’t sa lokal,” Garcia said.
(We will announce what the areas of concern really are, especially those categorized “red,” we will focus and keep watch on the high possibility of violence [there] or those especially where the rivalry of local candidates are intense.)
The campaign period for local candidates began last week Friday, March 25.
In 2009, the country faced what is considered the most cruel attack on journalists through the Maguindanao massacre, which killed 58. Majority or 34 of the victims were journalists trailing local politician Esmael Mangudadatu, who was then on his way to file a certificate of candidacy for the gubernational elections.
The family of the massacre’s 58th victim, late photojournalist Reynaldo “Bebot” Momay, is still seeking justice after his case was junked.
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