Comelec still validating ‘areas of concern’ identified by PNP (Sabong News)

The “areas of concern” identified by the Philippine National Police (PNP) are still being validated by the Commission on Elections (Comelec). During a joint press briefing on Thursday, April 7, PNP bared that it has identified 105 towns and 15 cities as “areas of concern.” Comelec Spokesperson James B. Jimenez said they have not finished validating PNP’s list of “areas of concern.” “Right now, we are undergoing validation and we hope that, within the week or what’s left of the week, we will be able to release the final list of areas under concern,” he said. According to Jimenez, the list provided by PNP will be crosschecked with local poll officials. “We respect the findings of the PNP and we believe that there is a basis for their findings, it is just that we have to crosscheck with our people on the ground regarding the situation,” he said. “Also to decide what the appropriate response of the commission will be.” In a media briefing last March 28, Commissioner George Erwin M. Garcia said the poll body will release the list of “areas of concern” for the 2022 polls on March 31. The Comelec will use a color-coded system again to tag “areas of concern”, formerly called election “hotspots.” Garcia said the poll body will strictly monitor areas tagged as “Red” or critical. Areas tagged as “Green” have no problem and no cause for concern; “Yellow” means the areas have a history of political unrest; while “Orange” indicates such areas have armed groups.