By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

A total of 17 local government units (LGUs) in Negros Occidental are being eyed as “election watchlist areas” (EWAs) for the upcoming barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections in October of this year.

Escalante City and the towns of Candoni and Moises Padilla were tagged as “areas of grave concern,” while Don Salvador Benedicto town was an “area of concern.”

The cities of Silay, Victorias, Himamaylan, Kabankalan, and Sipalay; and the towns of Toboso, Binalbagan, Isabela, La Castellana, Calatrava, Ilog, and Cauayan were tagged as “areas of immediate concern.”

The list was submitted last week during the first quarter Visayas Joint Peace and Security Coordinating Center meeting in Cebu attended by the officials of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Visayas Command (AFP-Viscom), the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Philippine Coast Guard.

Lieutenant General Benedict Arevalo, AFP-Viscom commander, said they will reassess and validate the list of LGUs prior to the October 30 local polls.

Based on classifications made by the Commission on Elections (Comelec), the PNP and AFP, those tagged as EWAs are places that have a history of intense political rivalry, presence of armed insurgents, or both.

The Comelec in Negros Occidental will wait for the formal filing of certificates of candidacy for the local polls before releasing a complete and updated list of EWAs in the province./DGB, WDJ