Negros Oriental provincial police director Col. Germano Mallari (left) and Comelec provincial election supervisor-designate lawyer Lionel Marco Castillano. (Photo by Judy Flores Partlow)
DUMAGUETE CITY – The Provincial Joint Security Control Center (PJSCC) in Negros Oriental has recommended at least nine election areas of concern in the province to be placed under the "red" category – the highest classification under the color-coded system adopted for the May 9 polls.
The list is awaiting the approval of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) national office.
However, lawyer Lionel Marco Castillano, the Comelec-Negros Oriental provincial election supervisor-designate, said the recommendation is based on the “old list” of the Philippine National Police (PNP) for the previous election.
He said he recommended to the PJSCC only two towns to be placed under the red category as he believed the rest could be placed in the orange, yellow, and green classification, but the body gave the list of nine areas to the Comelec in Manila.
Castillano said of the two areas that his office is recommending, one is in the south while the other is in the central part of the province.
He declined to name them, saying he does not want to preempt any announcement from the police and the military.
The Comelec, the PNP, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines comprise the JSCCs at different levels.
“We cannot give an official statement on these areas because the RJSCC has approved a different list and so we have to wait for a Comelec resolution on the approval of one of the two recommendations,” Castillano said in mixed English and Cebuano.
The criteria for the declaration of "red" election areas of concern include intense political rivalry, the presence of armed threat groups, specifically the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army, and previously reported election-related violent incidents.
But regardless of how many election areas of concern are identified in Negros Oriental, the PJSCC has finalized a joint security plan based on the list of the PNP’s nine areas.
“It might be perceived as overkill, deploying as many security personnel in these areas, but better be safe than sorry,” he said. “We don’t want to under-estimate the assignment of police and military troops in these areas only to find out on election day that more security forces are needed”.
An election area of concern under the red category requires the deployment of a Quick Reaction Team, he noted.
Meanwhile, a formal send-off ceremony for police and military personnel who will be on election duty is set for Friday at the Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office in nearby Sibulan town, Col. Germano Mallari, provincial police director, said. (PNA)
