BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Bacolod City Police Office and other members of the Joint City Peace and Security Coordinating Center are holding a virtual signing of peace covenant among candidates vying for elected positions in Bacolod City on February 10, its spokesperson, PLt. Col. Sherlock Gabana, said yesterday.
Gabana said that Bacolod City remains peaceful as of this time, as far as the May 9 elections are concerned. But he clarified that only the Comelec can declare the status of Bacolod City, when it comes to categorizing election areas of concern.
While Bacolod City has not recorded any election-related violence and intense political rivalries among candidates, even in the past elections, hehowever called on candidates to be role models for a peaceful election.
There are four categories of election hotspots – red, green, yellow and orange.
Green refers to areas that do not have security concerns and are generally peaceful and orderly, while Yellow are areas of concern which have a history of election-related incidents in previous elections, possible employment of partisan armed groups, occurrence of politically motivated election-related incidents and have been previously declared under Comelec control.
Category Orange, meanwhile, means areas of immediate concern where there is serious armed threat; while Red is for areas of grave concern which exhibit combined factors under the Yellow category with serious armed threats that may warrant the motu proprio (on its own) declaration of Comelec control.
Moises Padilla and Escalante City were both tagged as election areas of concerns due to election-related violence, intense political rivalries and the presence of New People’s Army rebels.
Another local government unit in southern Negros which was not identified by the policewas also categorized as a possible “area of concern” during the May 9 elections.*
