129 villages in Region 7 tagged as poll hotspots
AFTER the Commission on Elections and the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 shifted to a color-coding system, 129 barangays in Central Visayas are considered as hotspots for the May 14 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections.
Some 90 barangays under the Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office (NOPPO), 23 in Bohol Provincial Police Office and two in the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) were placed under code orange, which means that communist armed groups and private armed groups are present.
Four villages in Cebu and 10 in Bohol, on the other hand, were placed under code yellow, which means that there were election-related violence recorded in these areas in the past elections.
In the northern town of Tuburan, Barangays Monte Alegre and Sumon were placed under code orange. Four barangays, on the other hand, were placed under code yellow. These are the villages of Carmelo, Gaang, Mag-atubang and Putat.
“The new color-coding scheme is easier to understand. There are no red areas that were noted so far in Region 7. We have some orange, some yellow, and we have a lot of barangays placed under code green,” said PRO 7 Director Robert Quenery.
Code green means that the barangays are ready for the upcoming polls and that there are no specific threats observed or recorded.
The Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) and Siquijor Provincial Police Office (SPPO) are under code green.
Quenery said 2,000 personnel will be fielded in the differnt parts of the region for the upcoming elections.
In Cebu City, Councilor Dave Tumulak said that around a hundred suspicious men wearing face masks were seen in the mountain village of Agsungot.
In Barangay Calamba, Jojo Quijano, who is running for barangay captain, received threats for being allegedly behind the black propaganda against incumbent Barangay Captain Yvonne Feliciano.
A conflict was also recorded in Barangay Carreta involving the candidates.
The councilor is asking the police to look into the matter. (JOB/RVC/SunStar Cebu)