By Hilda Austria/PNA
LINGAYEN, Pangasinan — The Pangasinan Police Provincial Office (PPO) has recommended the inclusion of eight towns in Pangasinan on the elections watchlist.
Senior Insp. Ria Tacderan, PPO provincial information officer, said they are still validating and monitoring the situation before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) can officially declare these towns as such.
“The eight candidates to be areas of concern have intense political rivalry between the candidates. However, we cannot yet name these towns because only Comelec has the authority to declare them,” she said in an interview Tuesday.
Tacderan added that among other factors to be considered before a town or city will be placed under the list of areas of concern are: the presence of terrorist groups in the area, history of intense political rivalry, validated reports of candidates being involved in illegal drug trade, among others.
She added that once Comelec announces the list, augmentation forces or additional police personnel will be deployed in the area to contain the situation.
Pangasinan police said some shooting incidents involving election candidates recorded recently in the province were isolated cases, and were yet to be validated as election-related incidents.
Cases have been filed against the suspects, while some were also arrested.
