15 Cebu, Bohol areas placed under yellow category

CEBU CITY , Philippines – With only 11 days left before the May 12 polls, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has placed 15 areas in Cebu and Bohol under the yellow category due to election-related concerns.

This developed after the Regional Joint Security Control Center held a meeting on April 28 to validate and finalize the list of election areas of concern in Central Visayas.

The meeting was attended by officials of the Comelec-Central Visayas, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Philippine National Police (PNP), according to Francisco Pobe, chief of the Comelec-Central Visayas.

Among areas in Cebu classified under the yellow category are Argao, Balamban, Cebu City, Daanbantayan, Dalaguete, Dumanjug, Mandaue and San Fernando.

In Bohol, the towns of Buenavista, Inabanga, San Miguel, Trinidad, Tubigon and Ubay as well as Tagbilaran City were classified under the same category.

Pobe said the inclusion of areas in the poll watchlist was based on the recommendation of local joint security control centers in concerned municipalities and cities.

The list will be submitted to the Comelec central office in Manila for reference, he said.

Areas under the yellow category are those with a history of election-related violent incidents and intense political rivalries.

Pobe said the AFP and the PNP would evaluate and determine if there is a need to deploy additional security troops in areas considered as poll hotspots.

400 cops deployed in Lanao Sur

Meanwhile, up to 400 police officers have been deployed in Lanao del Sur to serve as members of the special electoral board.

The deployment was meant to ensure that the conduct of the elections in the province would be peaceful and orderly.

The officers, who came from different police units in Cagayan de Oro City, Nueva Ecija and Rizal province, arrived in Lanao del Sur on Wednesday.

Col. Robert Daculan, Lanao del Sur police director, said the arrival of reinforcement troops would strengthen security in the province, whose 20 areas are tagged as election hotspots.

Last week, the Army’s Joint Task Force Zampelan deployed in Lanao del Sur a provisional battalion composed of more than 400 soldiers trained in election security. –  Ric Obedencio, Roel Pareño