Police Lieutenant Colonel Gerard Ace Pelare. | CDN Digital photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines – A total of 41 barangays in Central Visayas have been identified as election areas of concern less than three weeks before the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) on October 30.
Of these, 35 were placed under the orange category as these were considered election areas of immediate concern. The six others were placed under the yellow category or areas of concern.
This announcement was made by Police Lieutenant Colonel Gerard Ace Pelare, the spokesperson of Police Brigadier General Anthony Aberin, the director of the Police Regional Office Central Visayas (PRO-7), in a press conference on Friday, October 12,2023.
“We have, so far, 41 areas of concern in Central Visayas. 35 of these are categorized under areas of immediate concern and 6 are categorized as areas of concern,” he said.
Pelare said that the 35 barangays, located in Bohol and Negros Oriental, were placed under the orange category because of the presence of communist-terrorist groups in these provinces.
The six others that are under yellow category are located in Cebu and Negros Oriental.
Pelare further explained that the classification was given to the 41 barangays by the Regional Joint Security Council following the conduct of a threat assessment in the entire region. He said that the council reviewed which areas had previous election-related crime incidents.
The Regional Joint Security Council consist of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), Philippine Nation Police (PNP), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), and the Philippine Coastguard.
Election-related incidents
“Ang kining pag-categorize sa election areas of concern, gitan-aw nato ang history sa past elections og naay mga validated election-related incidents in the past elections sa 2022 elections, 2018 Barangay and SK,” he said.
According to Pelare, the classifications that was given to the 41 barangays will serve as their guide in determining if there was a need to send an augmentation team to help secure the conduct of the BSKE in these localities.
“Kining pagdeklera nga election areas of concern, this will guide our deployment. Naa tay mga additional deployment diri but this is not to say nga ang other areas of Central Visayas will be lesser in security,” Pelare said.
“Depende man gud sa peculiarity sa lugar. Ang atong mga provincial director ug ang atong mga city director, naa silay appropriate security in accord with the threat assessment nato,” he added.
Proactive measures
As part of their efforts to maintain the peace and order during the election season, Pelare said, they will also be implementing other proactive measures.
“Naa sad tay mga proactive measures nga buhaton ani nga mga areas example we have a dialogue with the candidates. We will also increase police presence in these areas,” he said.
As an election preparation, Pelare said that a total of 12,000 security personnel will be deployed to augment security in the region. Of the number, 9,200 will come from the PNP while the rest are from the AFP and the PCG.
Regular threat assessment
Between now and Oct. 30, Pelare said they will continue to conduct regular threat assessment to determine the number of security personnel that are needed in a particular area, especially in Negros Oriental.
Comelec has decided to place Negros Oriental under its control in the BSKE to give the election body full control of overseeing security in the province.
“But this is, as I’ve mentioned, is an initial deployment. We will be assessing on a regular basis kung asay kinahanglan i-augment…As of now, mao nay atong nakita nga sufficient number nga mocover sa mga areas nga atong balantayan,” Pelare said.
Safe and secure
And despite the separate shooting incidents that happened in Balamban, Cebu and Bohol recently, Pelare said the region remains safe and secure.
In Balamban town, an incumbent barangay councilor was shot dead by a riding-in-tandem while was riding his motorcycle on October 5.
A day later, an unidentified gunman shot dead a municipal councilor in Buenavista town, Bohol province.
“But overall, we are very confident that Central Visayas is very safe and secure. Our aggressive police operations are continuing because we want to ensure nga when the election comes, kaning mga unscrupulous ug mga criminal elements will be removed from the streets,” Pelare added.
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