AT least 14 cities and 100 municipalities have been classified by the PNP as Category Red or critical areas in connection with the coming general elections, PNP chief Dionardo Carlos said yesterday.
In a press briefing at the PNP national headquarters in Camp Crame, Carlos said the police and military establishment are closely monitoring the situation in these areas, also dubbed as “hotspots,” to ensure peaceful and secure elections.
“In the last meeting that we had (last month), the Red areas all over the country is 100 municipalities and 14 cities,” Carlos said.
Carlos, however, refused to bare the list.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec), meanwhile, is considering empowering Chairman Saidamen Pangarungan to place specific areas or hotspots under “Comelec Control” with over a month left before the May 9 polls.
“We are now contemplating on authorizing our chairman to immediately issue the order to place a particular area in the country under Comelec Control,” Commissioner George said in a televised public briefing. “This action of the chairman will be subject to our (Comelec en banc).”
He said the proposal aims to hasten the process by removing the prerequisite of a Comelec en banc resolution.
“If we wait for the weekly Comelec en banc meeting, there may be delays in the necessary actions to prevent violence or the heightening of tension in the concerned area,” said Garcia.
The Comelec has yet to release its list of “areas of concern” for the coming May 9 polls.
“We still have to verify and reverify (these areas),” said Garcia
Carlos said areas are classified under four categories — Red, Yellow, Orange, and Green, with Green considered as relatively peaceful and orderly.
“We have no problem in the Green areas,” Carlos said.
An area is classified as Category Yellow if any of the following factors are present: occurrence of suspected election-related incident in the last election, existence of intense partisan political rivalry, possible employment of partisan armed groups, occurrence of politically-motivated election-related incidents, and previously declared under the control of the Commission on Elections.
An area is placed under Category Orange if it has a combination of two or more factors under Category Yellow or if there is a serious armed threat in the area.
An area is classified under Category Red if it has one or three more factors under Yellow Category, with serious threats posed by armed threat groups.
“We are monitoring those in the Yellow and Orange (categories) but we’re focused on the Red-colored areas. Our last data is 100 municipalities and 14 cities,” Carlos said, adding that more policemen and soldiers have been deployed in areas under Category Red to maintain peace and order.
On earlier reports from the Commission on Election that there are about 300 election hotspots, Carlos said the number may have included areas that are under Category Yellow and Orange.
Carlos also said that three police officials have been relieved from their posts in the Davao region because they have relatives seeking local election posts in areas under their jurisdiction.
Carlos had earlier vowed to relieve all policemen from areas where they have relatives seeking posts to ensure that police personnel are insulated from any partisan political activity.
Carlos said he has ordered a probe on why the three police officers, whom he did not identify, did not declare that they have relatives running in the local elections. “They know that that is a policy,” he said.
He said the superior officers of the three police officials will also be asked to explain why they were not aware the three have relatives who are candidates.
“So I told the regional director, ‘you make an investigation and let them answer why,’” said Carlos.
Carlos could not immediately say the number of policemen who have so far been relieved and re-assigned to other areas under the policy.
Under Comelec Resolution No. 10757, any political division, subdivision, unit, or area may be placed under Comelec Control when the peace and order situation in the area may affect the conduct of elections.
Grounds for the declaration of Comelec Control include having history of or current intense rivalry among the contending parties; areas that have been previously declared under Comelec Control; incidence of politically-motivated violence involving aspirants/candidates and/or their supporters; violence that maybe facilitated by the employment of Private Armed Groups (PAGs); and presence of serious armed threats posed by the communist terrorist group (CTG) and/or other threat groups, including the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), the Maute Group, and other analogous threat groups.
The declaration of Comelec Control can be initiated via motu proprio; by the filing of request; or by the filing of direct petition/letter. — With Gerard Naval
