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Thursday, October 25, 2007
46 Cebu barangays under ‘areas of immediate concern’
CEBU CITY -- The Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) have identified 46 barangays as “areas of immediate concern” and in need of maximum security on the October 29 barangay and youth elections.
These barangays - picked out of over 1,200 barangays in Cebu - are located in two cities and 10 towns in Cebu’s northern part.
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Sixty-two other barangays, three of which are in Cebu City, were also identified as “areas of concern” during Wednesday’s joint command conference by the Comelec, police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Central Command (Centcom) at Camp Sergio Osmeña Sr.
Officials from the Department of Education and Department of Interior and Local Government also attended the conference.
Senior Superintendent Mariano Natu-el, chief of the Police Regional Operations and Plans Division, said the three barangays in Cebu City that were listed as areas of concern are Pasil, Ermita, and Lahug.
Natu-el said the 46 barangays in Cebu that were identified as election areas of immediate concern are in the cities of Bogo and Danao and in the towns of Tabuelan, Borbon, Asturias, Pinamungajan, Tuburan, Catmon, San Remigio, Compostela, Carmen, and Sogod.
In the province of Bohol, 25 barangays were identified as election areas of immediate concern and 18 were listed as areas of concern.
For Oriental Negros, 28 barangays were identified as areas of immediate concern and 29 as areas of concern.
Natu-el told Sun.Star Cebu Wednesday that a barangay is considered an area of concern when:
* election-related violence occurred there in the past, but without the participation of the local communist movement;
* an intense partisan political rivalry exists, but does not involve any communists; and
* candidates are believed to be ready to employ armed groups.
A barangay may be declared an area of immediate concern if:
* at least half of the barangay is affected by insurgency;
* election-related violence has occurred there in the past;
* an intense partisan political climate caused by local communists is felt; and
* the area is subject to operations of active guerilla fronts, whether of communists or separatist groups.
During the command conference yesterday, PRO7 Director Ronald Roderos said all security preparations have been mapped out for the October 29 synchronized Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) and barangay elections.
Roderos said the maximum number of police and military personnel will be deployed in the barangays that were included in the list of areas of concern or of immediate concern.
The command conference was also attended by police officials from Camp Crame led by Chief Superintendent Ireneo Bacolod of the National Task Force Barangay Elections.
The national task force has been visiting the key regional police offices to “inspect, test and validate” security preparations for the elections.
For Central Visayas, Bacolod told reporters Wednesday that the PRO 7 “passed satisfactorily” in its elections security preparations.
“I can see no reason the security preparations will fail,” Bacolod said. (JST of Sun.Star Cebu)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Dumaguete. (October 25, 2007 issue)
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