LINGAYEN, Pangasinan -- The Pangasinan Police Provincial Office (PPO) has named five barangays in the province among election watchlist areas (EWAs), days before the May 14 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE).
These are barangays Binmeckeg in Sison, Dalangiring and Poblacion in Urbiztondo, San Roque in San Manuel and Bued in Calasiao.
Lawyer Marino Salas, provincial election supervisor of the Commission on Election (Comelec) in Pangasinan, cited intense political rivalry as the reason why these barangays were placed under EWAs.
“The candidates in these barangays have long been into disagreements or misunderstandings,” he said in an interview on Tuesday.
Salas clarified that the election status in the province remains under yellow code “because of the history of election-related violence in some barangays, nonetheless, the political situation here is generally peaceful.”
The PPO reported that of the 44,159 candidates for BSKE in the province, 60. 91 percent or 26,899 candidates, have already undergone voluntary drug test.
Meanwhile, the Comelec is now ready for next week’s elections, with the ballots already received by the election officers in 44 towns and four cities of the province.
“We are prepared now and we are just waiting for the execution of plans for the election on Monday,” added Salas. (PNA)
