Comelec awaits PNP’s guidance on election ‘hot spot’ areas

CHECKPOINT. Quezon City Police District personnel man a checkpoint along Luzon Avenue in Quezon City on Monday (Aug. 28, 2023) for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE). Increased police visibility, checkpoints and gun bans are to be carried out until Nov. 29. (PNA photo by Joey O. Razon)

MANILA – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Tuesday said it is awaiting the results of the security assessment by the Philippine National Police (PNP) before coming up with a list of “areas of concern,” formerly called election hot spots, for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE).

Comelec chair George Garcia made the remark following reports of four incidents of election-related violence ahead of the Oct. 30 polls — two in Libon town in Albay, one in Rizal province and one in Maguindanao.

“PNP recommendation po ang pagbabasehan ng action namin (Our action shall be based on the recommendation of the PNP),” he said in a message to reporters.

The country’s areas of concern classification has four categories — green, yellow, orange and red.

Green refers to areas that do not have security concerns and are generally peaceful and orderly, while yellow are areas of concern, which means that these have a history of election-related incidents in the last elections, possible employment of partisan armed groups, the occurrence of politically motivated election-related incidents and had been previously declared under Comelec control.

Orange, meanwhile, means areas of immediate concern where there is a serious armed threat; while red means areas of grave concern, which exhibit combined factors under the yellow category with serious armed threats that may warrant the motu proprio (on its own) declaration of Comelec control.

Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco, meanwhile, added that the poll body may also consider putting these areas under Comelec control if needed.

“Asahan din po natin na pagkatapos po ng investigation at assessment ng PNP at AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) ay maglalabas ng recommendations ang aming mga Regional Directors sa lugar na nabanggit upang makategorya po ng mataas na area of concern ang mga lugar na yan (Expect that after the investigation and assessment of the PNP and AFP, our regional directors will release recommendations to put the said areas in a high category of an area of concern),” he said.

“At kung kinakailangan po na mag-declare ng Comelec control ay gagawin namin po iyan (And if we need to declare it under Comelec control, we shall do it),” Laudiangco added.

The most recent incident happened in Libon where the victim Alex Repato, reelectionist captain of Barangay San Jose, was shot dead by still unidentified assailants in his residence at around 5 p.m. Monday, just hours after he filed his candidacy.

The incident occurred just a few days after Reliosa Mata, a councilor of Barangay Nagpo in Libon, and her husband Alfredo were killed in an attack as they returned home after attending a wake past 9 p.m. on Aug. 22.

The Comelec has yet to receive the complete reports on the two other incidents.

As of 6 p.m. Monday, law enforcement conducted 55 checkpoints in areas in Metro Manila as the start of the gun ban for the BSKE coincided with the first day of the COC filing period.

Around six firearms and 17 deadly weapons were reported to have been confiscated at these checkpoints.

The Comelec, meanwhile, noted an unprecedented volume of aspiring candidates who filed their COCs on Monday.