NegOcc has most number of areas under poll watch list

From the Philippine News Agency (May 5): NegOcc has most number of areas under poll watch list

Negros Occidental has the most number of election watch list areas (EWAs) for the May 14 polls among the six provinces in Western Visayas.

In a press conference Friday, Senior Supt. Jesus Cambay Jr., Deputy Regional Director for Operations of Police Regional Office 6 (Western Visayas), said there are 129 EWAs in the region and Negros Occidental contributed 77.

Of the number, three fall under Category 1; 71 under Category 2; and three under Category 3.

Following Negros Occidental is Iloilo with 28; Capiz (15); Aklan (4); and Iloilo City (3).

The province of Guimaras and the city of Bacolod have none.

However, data on EWAs might change as the local elections near, Cambay said during the press conference held on the sidelines of the second Joint Visayas Peace and Security Coordinating Council meeting at Camp General Martin Teofilo B. Delgado, Fort San Pedro in this city.

Villages under Category 1 have previous records of election-related incidents while those under Category 2 have problems on internal security and are affected by the presence of the Communist Party of the Philippines, New People's Army and the National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF). Villages under Category 3 are a combination of categories 1 and 2.


Cambay assured that the police, together with the Philippine Army, has already laid out joint security preparations in these areas of concerns, as well as in other areas not included in the poll watch list.

“We (army and PNP) have coordinated our efforts to give priority to these critical areas and we have continuous assessment in order for these areas to be properly secured,” said Lt. Gen. Paul Atal, commander of the Philippine Army’s Central Command.

Atal said they cannot yet reveal the total number of EWAs in the entire Visayas as they are still finalizing the data.


Chief Supt. Rolando Felix, chief of the Directorate for Integrated Police Operations in the Visayas, however noted that there is no specific threat in the region so far.

“We are assuring our people that our armed forces and our police, as well as our Comelec (Commission on Elections) are ready and prepared to address concerns on the upcoming Barangay and SK elections,” he said.

Meanwhile, lawyer Tomas Valera, Assistant Regional Director of Comelec-6, reminded voters who are 18-30 years old or those qualified to vote for both the village and youth elections, not to confuse the two ballots.

“They should be careful as they might interchange their ballots. They might fill up the ballot for SK with the names of candidates for the barangay while the ballot for barangay might be filled up with names of candidates under the SK,” he said.

To avoid this mistake, Valera said the ballot for SK is printed in red while the ballot for the barangay polls is printed in black.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1034264