Bacolod City – Top provincial officials of the Commission on Elections, Philippine Army and National Police in Negros Occidental, will meet next week to discuss security preparations, in line with the October 30 synchronized barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.
Provincial Comelec supervisor Atty. Ian Lee Ananoria said they are slated to tackle the gun ban implementation, election watchlist areas (EWAs), potential private armed groups, and insurgency related concerns.
The Police Regional Office 6 is closely monitoring existence of three potential private armed groups in Negros Occidental, which has 17 EWAs, based on records from previous elections.
The synchronized barangay and SK election period starts August 28 this year, where the gun ban will also be enforced, Ananoria said.
He said that the COMELEC central office has already sent a copy Resolution No. 10924, or the General Guidelines and Other Related Laws for the October 30, 2023 BSKE and All Succeeding BSKEs.
I will still have to meet them to discuss the basis formulated by the national office to identify an election hotspot area, Ananoria said.
Police Brigadier General Sidney Villaflor, regional police director of Western Visayas, said there is a need to update the previous list of EWAS based on the current situation in the barangay level.
The guidelines of COMELEC will be our basis in the monitoring of armed groups in Western Visayas, Villaflor said.
As of this time, the PRO6 has not monitored the existence of any active private armed groups in Western Visayas. (Gilbert Bayoran via The Visayan Daily Star, photo courtesy of Philippine News Agency)