The Regional Joint Security Control Center (RJSCC) approved the declaration of 172 barangays in Western Visayas as election areas of concern during its command conference at Camp Martin Delgado in Iloilo City on Thursday, September 21.
Of the 172 barangays, 51 are in Negros Occidental, Regional Election Director Dennis Ausan said.
Three barangays in Negros Occidental were tagged as red or areas of grave concern, 45 as orange or areas of immediate concern and three as yellow or are areas of concern.
Iloilo has the most areas of concern at 93, followed by Negros with 51, Capiz – 14, Antique -12, and Aklan 2.
Of the 172 election areas of concern in Western Visayas six are tagged as yellow, 163 as orange and three as red, Ausan said.
Western Visayas has 3,879 barangays under the green category or areas of no security concern, he added.
“The evaluation continues on the realities on the ground. This list could be lessened or increased in the next few weeks. It all depends on the actualities on the ground,” Ausan said.
The classification was based on the parameters set by the Commission on Elections in its Resolution 10924, he said.
Areas under the yellow category or areas of concern are identified as having had an occurrence of election-related incident (ERI) in the past two elections and politically motivated ERI in the current election period, provided there was no participation of domestic terror groups, intense partisan political rivalry, possible employment of partisan armed groups by candidates in the area, and was previously declared under the Comelec control.
Orange or areas of immediate concern include a combination of two or more factors under the yellow category or there is a serious armed threat posed by the New People’s Army (NPA).
Red or areas of grave concern may warrant the motu-proprio declaration of Comelec control. The red areas must have one or more factors under category yellow together with serious armed threats posed by the NPA and other similar groups.*