Bacolod City has been included in the Commission on Elections watchlist, Roberto Salazar, Acting Negros Occidental provincial elections supervisor, said Friday, April 1.
Bacolod has been placed under the yellow category because of intense political rivalry, he said.
Eighteen other areas in Negros Occidental also remain under the watchlist, he said.
Under the red category are Calatrava, Moises Padilla, Candoni and Escalante City due to possible serious armed threats and previous violent election-related incidents.
There are 13 areas under the orange category – Silay, Victorias, Himamaylan, Kabankalan and Sipalay cities and the towns of Binalbagan, Manapla, Cauayan, Hinoba-an, Ilog, Isabela, La Castellana and Toboso because of possible serious New People’s Army armed threats.
Don Salvador Benedicto is under the yellow category.
Salazar said during the provincial Joint Peace and Security Coordinating Council meeting at the Negros Residences in Bacolod City on Thursday the three electric cooperatives in Negros Occidental assured the Comelec that they will have adequate power supply during the May elections.
“I asked them not to conduct maintenance operations from May 6 until the elections (on May 9) are over,” he said.
The Comelec has also asked the Department of Education to check the readiness of its classrooms for the May polls, Salazar said.*