In Negros Oriental 73 barangays monitored as EWAs

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines — Authorities will be closely monitoring a total of 73 barangays in Negros Oriental included in the final list of Election Watchlist Areas (EWAS) for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections on May 14.

With 20 barangays included in the EWAs list, Guihulngan City has the most number of election hotspots, mostly due to the strong presence of New People’s Army (NPA) rebels there, outgoing provincial police director Senior Superintendent Edwin Portento said.

The 73 areas are scattered among 17 cities and towns, which include Bais City, Canlaon City, Bayawan City, Tanjay City, Ayungon, Bindoy, Jimalalud, La Libertad, Mabinay, Manjuyod, Pamplona, Sibulan, Santa Catalina, Tayasan, Valencia, and Siaton.

Police and military visibility will be heightened in these hotspots. The final figure is much higher than the initial 62 barangays that authorities gave last April. It is also doubly higher than the number of hotspots during the 2016 polls, when there were only 34 barangays on the list.

Three areas have also been tagged as areas of concern due to intense political rivalry: Barangay Kalamtukan in Bayawan City, Barangay Yupisan in Pamplona, and Barangay Tacpao in Guihulngan City.

On March 25, an incumbent councilman from Kalamtukan in Bayawan City was ambushed, along with six others, by gunmen, who are still unidentified to this day.

While Dumaguete City has had no history of election-related violence, more than 900 hopefuls here vowed to make Monday’s polls a peaceful one by signing a special covenant with the Diocesan Electoral Board (DEB) on Wednesday evening.

In his speech during the event, Superintendent Jonathan Pineda Dumaguete, chief of the Dumaguete Police, said the May 14 elections will be a “clash of clans,” or a contest among rival families and relatives. He also asked candidates to help the police maintain Dumaguete’s record of the absence of violence during the past few elections.

Pineda said two police officers have been assigned to man each polling precinct. He added that the Dumaguete Police has divided the city into quadrants, with a quick reaction unit assigned to respond to concerns and emergencies in each area.

For his part, Dumaguete Bishop Julito Cortes reminded candidates to remember the promises they made during the campaign period once elected to their desired posts.

Meanwhile, Negros Oriental provincial election supervisor Eddie Aba told reporters that Comelec preparations for Monday’s polls remain unchanged, even as a new official was named the director of the Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office (NORPPO).

Senior Superintendent Raul Tacaca is the new NORPPO chief, fresh from his previous post as director of the Zamboanga del Norte Provincial Police. Effective May 8, he replaced his classmate Senior Superintendent Edwin Portento, who was reassigned to Camp Crame in Manila as chief of the PNP’s Bids and Awards Committee.