Election hotspots to be revealed soon

CEBU, Philippines — A list of election hotspot areas will be released within the week according to Chief Superintendent Robert Quenery, Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7) director.

Provincial and city commanders were instructed to convene with their respective Commission on Election (Comelec) election officers for initial security and safety assessment.

“By the end of the week, we can expect to have a consolidated assessment in identifying our areas of concern which will be the basis in our deployment of security forces,” Quenery said.

Comelec-7 acting director Veronico Petalcorin told The FREEMAN that the identification of hotspots should depend on the actual or present situation of a certain locality.

He said the previous elections are commonly used as basis in identifying the hotspots or areas where political rivalries had gone violent.

However, he said the coming May 14 elections may create a different scene with the new set of candidates running for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections.

Petalcorin said Comelec, the PNP and the Army Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will convene to identify the barangays to be categorized as hotspots based on the standard criteria.

The final list of potential hotspots will be forwarded to the Comelec regional office for validation.

Petalcorin said so far, his office has not received any list.

The Comelec regional office has the last say in declaring a certain barangay a hotspot.

These areas are commonly prioritized by security forces to prevent any violent incident to arise.

The Cebu Police Provincial Office (CPPO) has recommended two barangays in Tuburan to be included on the list. —Mae Clydyl L. Avila (FREEMAN)