NCRPO names 30 barangays as ‘areas of concern’

MANILA, Philippines - At least 30 barangays in Metro Manila are now considered “areas of concern” in connection with the Oct. 28 barangay elections, the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) said yesterday.

NCRPO director Chief Superintendent Marcelo Garbo Jr. said the 30 barangays classified as areas of concern in Metro Manila are located in the cities of Pasay, Makati, Las Piñas, Parañaque, Muntinlupa, Taguig and Manila and in the town of Pateros.

Authorities, however, have no reports on areas of concern in Caloocan City, Pasig and Quezon City, where elective positions are hotly contested.

These areas are Barangays 144 and 97 in Pasay City; San Lorenzo, San Antonio and Carmona in Makati; Zapote in Las Piñas; and Don Bosco, San Antonio, La Huerta, BF Homes, Baclaran, San Isidro, and San Dionisio in Parañaque.

In Manila, the areas of concern are Barangays 130 and 131 in Tondo; 346 in Sta. Cruz; 679, 735 and 740 in Sampaloc; 190 in Abad Santos; 638 in Sta. Mesa; 727 in Malate; 836 in Pandacan and 290 in Binondo.

Barangay Sucat, Muntinlupa City; Maharlika, South Signal, Central and Ususan in Taguig; and Sta. Ana in Pateros were also named areas of concern.

Updates, not inconsistencies

The NCRPO released the latest assessment with 10 days to go before the nationwide barangay elections as the Philippine National Police (PNP) clarified the apparent inconsistencies in officials’ reports on election hot spots and areas of concern.

Senior Superintendent Reuben Theodore Sindac, PNP Public Information Office (PIO) chief, said Garbo has the prerogative to raise the level of alert and security assessment in Metro Manila.

Sindac added the NCRPO report on areas of concern was an updated assessment on the peace and security in Metro Manila compared to the report of the Directorate for Intelligence (DI) presented to the Joint Security Council Committee recently.

Earlier, PNP-DI chief Director Cipriano Querol said not a single barangay in Metro Manila was included in over 7,000 areas placed under its election watchlist.