PNP looking at 27 'red' areas of concern for BSKE 2023

The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Tuesday said it is considering 27 areas to be designated as election areas of concern under the red category for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE).

In a press conference, PNP Deputy Chief for Operations Police Lieutenant General Michael John Dubria said that these red areas are located but not specifically in Maguindanao, North Cotabato, Basilan, Sulu, and the special geographic area.

He added that 232 areas are being considered to be placed under orange category, 4,085 under yellow category, and 37,683 under green category.

“We have some figures here but these still have to be submitted to the Comelec en banc for approval. But for a bird's eye view for our election areas of concern, we have four categories,” Dubria said.

“The category green, we have 37,683, that are election areas with no concern. For category yellow, 4,085. For orange, 232. And for red is 27,” he added.

According to him, these figures were based on past elections and need to undergo more validation.

Areas classified as green are considered generally peaceful for the conduct of elections, according to the PNP.

Yellow areas have reported suspected election-related incidents in the past two polls, possible presence of armed groups, and intense political rivalries. Yellow areas are considered “areas of concern”.

Orange areas have a recorded presence of armed groups such as the New People's Army that may interrupt the polls. These are considered “areas of immediate concern”.

Meanwhile, red areas meet the parameters for yellow and orange areas. They will be placed under Comelec control. Security forces will focus on monitoring these areas with a possibility for violence and intense political fights among local candidates.

PNP chief Police General Benjamin Acorda Jr. said the basis of the designation are intelligence reports, history of the area, political rivalry, among others.

“But of course, we don't rely only on sa amin sa (our organization) PNP, but this is a joint input with the Coast Guard and Armed Forces of the Philippines and of course with the Comelec representatives,” he said.

The BSKE is set to be held on October 30, 2023. —KG, GMA Integrated News