BACOLOD City – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Negros Occidental has promised to secure the safety of teachers who will serve as members of the electoral board for the upcoming Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) scheduled for Monday, Oct. 30.
Currently, approximately 15,000 public school teachers in the province are being trained for their respective polling duties.
Provincial elections supervisor, Atty. Ian Lee Ananoria, emphasized that on election day, both police and military personnel will be stationed at polling centers to guarantee the teachers’ safety. These security personnel are mandated to remain on-site until the ballot counting concludes.
Ananoria further mentioned that there is an ample number of police and military staff available within the province.
While the main deployment for the BSKE security forces is set for Friday, Oct. 27, some personnel have already been dispatched to areas identified as concerns.
These security officers, besides ensuring the polling precincts’ safety, will also handle checkpoint duties and oversee the safe transportation of election-related materials.
As per Comelec’s recent announcement, out of 662 barangays in Negros Occidental, 51 are classified as areas of concern. Specifically:
* three barangays, including Minapasuk in Calatrava town, and barangays Quintin Remo and Macagahay in Moises Padilla town, are labeled under the red category or high-risk areas due to the observed presence of the Communist Party of the Philippines – New People’s Army
* 45 barangays are categorized as orange or medium-risk areas.
* three are listed under the yellow category, indicating they are areas of mild concern.
Conversely, the remaining 511 barangays, inclusive of Bacolod City, are in the green category, meaning they face no known threats. (Watchmen Daily Journal)/PN
