BACOLOD City – There is no need for the 51 barangays in Negros Occidental to be placed under the direct control of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), according to provincial elections supervisor Atty. Ian Lee Ananoria.
The 51 were part of the 172 barangays in Western Visayas identified as areas of concern by Comelec Region 6 and the Philippine National Police for the Oct. 30 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.
Ananoria yesterday said the classification of these areas was based on historical violence rather than political factors.
He cited the case of neighboring Negros Oriental which was placed under Comelec control due to election-related violence linked to politics.
Ananoria added that placing an area under Comelec control requires the approval of the Comelec en banc.
Meanwhile, of the 51 areas of concern, three barangays were classified as “red,” signifying the highest level of concern. Forty-five were categorized as “orange” or areas of immediate concern, and three fell under the “yellow” category or areas of concern.
Negros Occidental has a total of 662 barangays.
Here is the Comelec classification of election areas:
* Green – Areas without security concerns, relatively peaceful and orderly.
* Yellow (Election Areas of Concern) – Areas with suspected election incidents in the last two elections, provided there was no involvement of domestic threat groups; areas with intense political rivalry but without domestic terror group participation; potential use of partisan armed groups by candidates; occurrence of politically motivated incidents in the current election period, without domestic threat group involvement; or areas previously declared under Comelec control.
* Orange (Election Areas of Immediate Concern) – Areas with two or more factors from the yellow category or serious armed threats from groups like the New People’s Army (NPA), Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), and rogue elements of various organizations.
* Red (Election Areas of Grave Concern) – Areas with one or more factors from the yellow category and serious armed threats posed by groups like the NPA, BIFF, and rogue elements of various organizations./PN
