7 Bohol towns under ‘areas of immediate concern’

TAGBILARAN CITY - Seven towns in Bohol province are identified as election hotspots under orange category, or election areas of immediate concern, the Bohol Police Provincial Office (BPPO) said.

The seven towns — Balilihan, Tubigon, Clarin, Inabanga, Batuan, Bilar and Sevilla — belong to the “orange category” or areas of immediate concern where the areas are known for the presence of NPA rebels and private armed groups, or both.

According to Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) classification of election hotspots, there are three categories for the election watchlist areas: areas of concern, areas of immediate concern, and areas of grave concern.

There are 18 towns placed under  category yellow or areas of concern where there is history of election-related incidents for the past two elections and there is intense political rivalry.

These are the towns of  Antequera, Baclayon, Calape, Catigbian, Bien Unido, Buenavista, Danao, Sagbayan, San Isidro, San Miguel, Talibon, Trinidad, Ubay, Carmen, Garcia Hernandez, Guindulman, Mabini and Pilar.

“A town or city may be classified as an area of concern if it has a history of poll-related incidents and occurrence of intense political rivalries, " said Police Col. Osmundo Salibo, provincial director of BPPO.

There were 23 towns identified for   category green or places where there are no security concerns and generally peaceful.  These are Tagbilaran City, Alburquerque, Corella, Cortes, Dauis, Loon, Maribojoc, Panglao, Sikatuna, Dagohoy, Getafe, President Carlos P. Garcia, Alicia, Anda, Candijay, Dimiao, Duero, Jagna, Lila, Loon, Loboc, Sierra Bullones and Valencia.

Salibo said there is no town placed in category red or are which has grave concern.

"We don't have really what we considered hot spot for the category red in the province. We are still lucky," Salibo said.

He said there is no need to fear or panic for those areas under orange category. The categorization is just to know where most augmentation will take place considering limited resources of the police.

He also assured that even the towns and cities that are not identified as election hotspots will be secured by the police.

On Friday afternoon, Feb. 18, the BPPO launched the Secure, Accurate, Free, and Fair National Local Elections (SAFE NLE) 2022 dubbed Kasimbayanan (Kawani, Simbahan at Pamayanan) that was attended by different stakeholders.

The highlights of the event were the ceremonial lighting of SAFE candles and signing of the pledge of commitment. -- BAP, GMA News