ILOILO CITY -- Less than a month before the May 14 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections, 88 villages in Iloilo province were declared under the election watch list areas (EWAs), director of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO) said Friday.
Senior Supt. Marlon Tayaba said town of Calinog has the highest number of villages under poll watch list with 26.
Of the total number, eight villages fall under category 1; 77 under category 2; and three under category 3.
Category 1 are composed of villages with previous election-related incidents while category 2 have problems on internal security and affected by the Communist Party of the Philippines, New People's Army (NPA) and the National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).
Villages under category 3 have combination of both category 1 and 2.
Tayaba said the 88 watch list areas were identified based on the election-related incidents recorded during the previous three consecutive elections -- 2010, 2013 and 2016 local and national polls.
But he said that the number might increase “depending if there will be issues that will arise in other areas in the coming days.”
In the town of Sara alone, the villages of Tady, Muyco and Crespo are declared under EWAs.
Police Senior Inspector Gilbert Valdevarona, chief of police of Sara Municipal Police Station, said there have been election-related incidents in these areas based on the data of the municipal office of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
In the villages of Tady and Muyco, there were allegedly sightings of New People’s Army in these mountainous barangays while there have been conflict between supporters of poll candidates in the village of Crespo during the previous local polls, Valdevarona said.
He said that they have initially requested about 48 additional personnel from IPPO to secure their town, especially on the three villages under EWAs.
Meanwhile, Tayaba said that they are currently monitoring these areas to make sure that incidents that were previously recorded will not be repeated.
“Definitely, the security measures that we will be providing them will be more stringent,” he added.
He ordered police personnel in the province to strictly implement security measures in their respective areas and conduct massive checkpoints and strictly enforce the campaign against illegal firearms. (PNA)
