One more town in Negros Oriental has been classified under red category ahead of the May 12 midterm polls, a Commission on Elections (Comelec) official said yesterday.
Lawyer Lionel Marco Castillano, Comelec-Negros Island Region (NIR) director, said the La Libertad town joined Guihulngan City in the red category.
“This developed following the burning of heavy equipment by members of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army in a remote sub-village in La Libertad last month,” Castillano said.
The Leonardo Panaligan Command of the dismantled Central Negros 1 guerrilla front claimed responsibility for the burning of two backhoes, a payloader and a dump truck belonging to a construction company in Sitio Manghuya Barangay Aya on February 8.
The construction company is building a farm-to-market road with funding from the provincial government.
Police and military officials recommended placing La Libertad under the highest classification, through Comelec Resolution No. 11067, during a recent meeting of the Provincial Joint Security Control Center, Castillano said.
One of the criteria for placing an area under the red category is the presence of armed threat groups that could mar the conduct of the elections.
The other categories are green, yellow and orange.
Green refers to areas that do not have security concerns and are generally peaceful and orderly; yellow are areas that have a history of election-related incidents in the last two elections; and orange are areas of immediate concern where there are serious armed threats.
Areas under the red category meet the parameters for yellow and have serious threats posed by communist-terrorist groups or other threat groups.
In Negros Oriental, one is under orange, and 22 under yellow.
Castillano said the categorization of election hot spots will change regularly, depending on the current security status.
Meanwhile, the NIR Regional Joint Security Control Center will meet later this week to discuss election concerns, including security contingency plans.
Expected to attend the meeting are officials and representatives from the Philippine Army’s 302nd and 303rd Infantry Brigades, Philippine National Police, Comelec, power utility firms, and the cargo forwarder in charge of the delivery of automated counting machines for the elections. (PNA)