The Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO) has identified three areas in the province that are potential election hotspots in this year’s national and local elections.
These are Moises Padilla in the Fifth District and Escalante City in the First District, while the third area has not yet been named by the provincial police.
Lt. Abegael Donasco, NOCPPO public information officer, said the third area of concern in the province is in the south, which has a presence of armed groups and previous political rivalries among the candidates.
The Philippine National Police had previously categorized the election hotspot list into four – Green, Yellow, Orange, and Red.
Category Green are areas that do not have security concerns, while Yellow are areas of concern that have a history of election-related incidents in the last elections, possible employment of partisan armed groups, occurrence of politically motivated election-related incidents and had been previously declared under Commission on Elections control.
Category Orange are areas of immediate concern, which have a serious armed threat, while Red are areas of grave concern, which exhibit combined factors under the Yellow category with serious armed threats that may warrant a declaration of Comelec control.
In the 2019 elections, Moises Padilla was placed under Comelec control due to intense political violence and rivalry. It even prompted President Rodrigo Duterte to visit the town to assure residents it is safe to vote.*