MALASIQUI, Pangasinan—The Commission on Election (Comelec) Provincial Office in Pangasinan has raised yellow code status following reports on alleged intense political rivalry in six barangays of the province.
Lawyer Marino Salas, provincial election supervisor during a forum hosted by the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkasters sa Pilipinas Pangasinan chapter on Thursday, said the report is yet to be validated before these barangays would qualify in the Election Watchlist Areas (EWAS) for this year’s Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE).
Comelec guidelines state that yellow code indicates that the area has history of election- related violence, while orange code is for those with armed and rebel groups and those with red code are critical areas.
Green code, on the other hand, means there is no cause for concern in the area.
“The candidates in these barangays had previous heated arguments,” Salas said in a follow- up interview with the Philippine News Agency (PNA), as he refused to identify the barangays until the validation is done on the next command conference on May 7.
He disclosed during Wednesday command conference of Comelec, Pangasinan Police Provincial Office (PPPO) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) that so far, no barangay was named in the EWAS and there was also no sighting of insurgents in the province.
“Although I warned the PPO and the AFP that the heat of election fever will start to rise on the campaign period,” he said.
He further said that deployment of the army and the police has started in the province.
“If you see soldiers and policemen everywhere, please do not be alarmed as this is just part of our security plan for the upcoming BSKE,” Salas said.
He added the Comelec is done with the final briefing of the trainers (election officers) and the Board of Election Tellers (BETs), and they are now awaiting the ballots from central office. (PNA)
