The Commission on Election is set to sit down with the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police, to evaluate hinterland and insurgency-affected barangays in southern Negros, where numerous armed clashes between the military and New People’s Army have taken place, in line with the upcoming synchronized barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections to be held October 30 this year.
Provincial Comelec Supervisor Atty. Ian Lee Ananoria said that they will discuss with AFP and PNP, if there is a need to declare “areas of concern,” based on the guidelines set by the Comelec.
Sporadic armed clashes that have taken place in the hinterlands of cities of Himamaylan City, from October last year, up to last month, has triggered the temporary displacement of thousands of residents, and the loss of lives, among government troops and rebels.
The filing of Certificates of Candidacy is slated for July 3 to 13.
That will be the time we will evaluate the candidates, who are they supporting, and the possibility of intense political rivalry in a barangay, Ananoria said.
Based on his previous past experiences, Ananoria disclosed that elections at the barangay level are heated and intense.
On the other hand, Ananoria also announced that the Election Registration Board (ERB) of all the 31 local government units in Negros Occidental have finished cleansing their list of voter’s applicants.
He said that Comelec officials from Manila are set to arrive in the province on March 20 to review and check the progress report and finalize the number of precincts so that the final voter’s list will be printed for the Barangay and Sanggunian Kabataan on October.
“By next week we can come up with the official report and know who the disapproved voter applicants are,” Ananoria said, noting that there are applicants who used fake IDs which were mostly PhilHealth IDs.
(Gilbert Bayoran via The Visayan Daily Star (TVDS), photo courtesy of TVDS)