ANTIQUE – Twelve barangays in the province of Antique are considered ‘election areas of immediate concern’ or election watchlist areas (EWAS) following information on the movement of the Communist Terrorist Group (CTG).
Police Lieutenant Alkent B. Undag, deputy force commander of the 1st Antique Provincial Mobile Force Company, said a joint meeting was held on August 31 with the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine Coast Guard, and Antique Police Provincial Office for the deployment of security forces for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.
“Doon within sa meeting namin, we are highlighting kung ano ‘yong barangays that are very high risk with regards to the information na na-receive nga may movements sa communist and terrorist groups and identified certain barangays that have a great density of CTG movement,” said Undag.
Undag clarified that the 12 identified barangays are still subject to confirmation and validation to determine if CTG activities continue.
“Yong barangays na na-mention is for confirmation pa, kasi on-going pa ‘yong validation namin kung until now continuous pa rin ang activity ng CTGs,” he said.
To determine the severity of EWAS, the Comelec has three categories: green, yellow, orange and red.
Areas classified as “green” do not have any security concerns and are considered generally peaceful and orderly amid the polling season.
On the other hand, “yellow” areas are those with some history of violence due to the election or those with intense political rivalry sans the involvement of terror groups.
Meanwhile, “orange” areas are places that have the qualifications to be categorized as “yellow” but experience armed threats from domestic terror groups and other forces.
Those classified as “red” areas have a history of violence, the existence of political rivalries, and the threat of armed terror groups that are recognized by a relevant government agency. This may warrant the area being under Comelec’s control.
“Red category” is the highest classification for election areas of concern./PN
