Comelec: No areas of concern yet for 2025 polls

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said it does not yet see any places that have to be declared as “areas of concern” for the 2025 national and local elections.

This, as the Philippine National Police (PNP) said it already submitted its list of "Potential Election Areas of Concern" to the Comelec and is now being validated.

PNP spokesperson Police Colonel Jean Fajardo said an area can be declared an “area of concern” or under Comelec control under the following conditions: if an election-related violence transpired there, if there’s intense political rivalry, or if there’s a presence of private armed groups.

She said that this will determine how many police personnel will be deployed to a specific area.

"Itong mga potential election areas of concern (list) ay pinadala natin sa Comelec. At only Comelec ang puwedeng mag declare po 'neto... Ito po kasi ay dadaan pa sa validation ng joint security council na pinapamunuan po ng Comelec," Fajardo said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview on Saturday.

(We have sent the list of potential election areas of concern to the Comelec. Only the Comelec can declare this list because it will go through the validation of the joint security council headed by the Comelec.) —RF, GMA Integrated News