No word yet if Negros Oriental will be declared election hot spot, says Comelec

The police and military have yet to recommend if Negros Oriental will be declared as a hot spot ahead of the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections in October, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Monday.

"We are yet to meet with them. We will have a command conference by July," Comelec Chairman George Garcia told reporters when asked if these agencies already made recommendations to the poll body.

Garcia was interviewed at the sidelines of the House ethics committee hearing on the continued absence of Negros Oriental Representative Arnolfo Teves Jr. from the chamber.

Teves, who is out of the country, is one of the suspects in the March 4 killing of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo and several others. Though he has repeatedly denied involvement, he has refused to return to the country, citing threat to his life.

Amid the investigation on the killing, there were suggestions to declare Negros Oriental as an election hot spot for the upcoming Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls.

"The AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) has yet to say anything on that. They don’t have a report yet. Previously, Negros Oriental was not considered an election hotspot, so we focused on other areas," Garcia added.

Garcia also reiterated his previous stance that the poll body is pushing for a peaceful and credible elections in Negros Oriental, and that is why it will be conducting public consultations before making a decision on whether or to not to identify the province as an election hot spot.

"We will be conducting public hearings on this, and we will have a decision by June," he said.

The poll chief admitted that the upcoming elections is "hotly contested" and therefore they are "monitoring the situation nationwide."

"There may be incidents that won't involve barangay officials, but such incidents might have implication on the conduct of the election," he said. —KBK, GMA Integrated News