ILOILO City – Recent clashes in Negros Occidental and Panay Island between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the New People’s Army (NPA) have not affected its list of election areas of concern, according to the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6).
There are 44 election areas of concern in the region and they have been categorized into four color codes – red, orange , yellow, and green.
According to Police Colonel Gilbert Gorero, chief of the PRO-6’s Regional Operations Division, under red are Calinog in Iloilo province; Candoni, Moises Padilla, Escalate City, and Calatrava in Negros Occidental
Red areas are “areas of grave concern”
Under orange are Bingawan, Lambunao, Maasin, Janiuay, Alimodian, San Joaquin, Tubungan, Miag-ao, Igbaras, Leon, Lemery, San Dionisio, and Sara in Iloilo province; Maayon, Dumalag and Tapaz in Capiz; Manapla, Silay City, Victorias City, Toboso, Binalbagan, Himamaylan City, Kabankalan City, Hinoba-an, Sipalay City, Isabela, La Castellana, Ilog, and Cauayan in Negros Occidental; Libacao in Aklan; and Hamtic, Sibalom, San Remigio, Culasi, and Sebaste in Antique
Orange areas are “areas of immediate concern”.
Under yellow are Don Salvador Benedicto and Bacolod City in Negros Occidental; Laua-an in Antique; and Pilar in Capiz
Yellow areas are “areas of concern”.
Towns and cities not in these three color categories are designated as “green” areas or areas with no security concerns or are relatively peaceful and orderly.
“We have not recorded election-related incidents and we are hoping that this would be maintained until the end of elections,” Gorero said
The synchronized national and local elections are on May 9.
“We identified terror threats in Western Visayas, that’s why our deployment of personnel is divided into different scenarios or areas. Ang red category wala lang naga-limit sa insurgency problem. It also includes past election incidents,” said Gorero.
For his part, Army Captain Kim Apitong, spokesperson of the 3rd Infantry Division (3ID), said the series of recent encounters were part of the Armed Forces’ strategies to disempower rebels.
Fourteen Army-NPA encounters were recorded from January to April in the region./PN