PNP monitors 9 Kidapawan ‘hot spots’

KIDAPAWAN CITY – The police is monitoring nine villages here as areas of concern for the upcoming May 14 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) polls.

“Areas of concern means violence is likely to occur in these villages,” Supt. Ramel Hojilla, Kidapawan City police director said.

He said part of the police preparation for the coming May 14 elections is to ensure voters can vote without intimidation or harassment from election stakeholders.

“We continue to conduct validation and assessment on a daily basis with the help of the military,” Hojilla said of the nine villages, where the presence of communist New Peoples’ Army (NPA) has been noted since the last election.

These areas, Hojilla said, are still considered areas of concern and if the peace and order situation worsens, “we may place the villages under areas of immediate concern.”

He declined to name the nine villages that are being monitored.

Lawyer Duque Kadatuan, North Cotabato election supervisor, said the final list of candidates for village and youth elections has yet to be determined since the certificates of candidacy (COC) have been forwarded to Manila Comelec office for further verification and confirmation.

Once these COCs are returned to the province, it will only be then that the final list of candidates will be known, Kadatuan said in a radio interview Tuesday. (PNA)

IMPROVISED BATH TUB – A young boy beats the summer heat by submerging himself in an improvised swimming tub and pouring water over his head along an alley in an informal settlers’ community in Davao City. (Keith Bacongco)