The Commission on Elections tagged 12 towns and cities of Negros Occidental as areas of concern in the May 9 elections, due to intense political rivalries, history of election-related incidents, and the presence of private armed groups, New People’s Army, and other threat groups.
The municipalities of Moises Padilla and Candoni, as well as Escalante City, were placed under “areas of grave concern”, provincial Comelec supervisor, Atty. Roberto Salazar, said.
Local government units included in the list of “areas of immediate concern” are Manapla, Silay City, Victorias City, Toboso, Binalbagan, Himamaylan City, Hinobaan and Kabankalan City, while Comelec tagged Don Salvador Benedicto as an “area of concern”.
Salazar stressed that there might still be some changes since the poll body has yet to issue a resolution on the matter.
There are three categories in the identification of the election watch list areas, namely areas of concern, areas of immediate concern, and areas of grave concern.
A town or city may fall under the category of areas of concern if it has a history of election-related incident and occurrence of intense political rivalries, areas of immediate concern if there are presence of NPA rebels or private armed groups, and a combination of both for areas of grave concern, Salazar explained.
In the 2019 elections, Moises Padilla was placed under the Comelec control due to intense political rivalries, and occurrence of election-related incidents, which reportedly involved partisan armed groups and NPA rebels.
Last month, a political organizer of Hinobaan Mayor Ernesto Estrao was murdered, and the chief executive claimed that the incident was politically-motivated. — GB
