10 hotspots

By EJ Dominic Fernandez
Davao City police director Ronald de la Rosa has placed ten areas in Davao City in under election watch list.
While he assessed the overall picture of the election season in Davao City as “good,” Dela Rosa said there are ten barangays from Paquibato, Baguio and Marilog Districts the Davao City Police Office (DCPO) has placed under election watch list due to presence of communist rebels.
De la Rosa bared this during the Kapehan sa Davao at Sm, Annex, Ecoland yesterday. He named the barangays as Lumiad, Mapula, Pañalum, Malabog and Paradise Embak in Paquibato district; Carmen, Tambobong, and Tawan-Tawan in Baguio district; and Malamba and Tamugan in Marilog district.
According to de la Rosa, the May 13 election watch list has two categories.
The first category is considered as an area where there is intense partisan politics, intense political rivalry, and election violence among politicians.
The second category is considered as an area which is infested with communist rebels, the 10 barangays on the watch list fall under the second category.
“Davao City has no intense political rivalry, if ever there are any; it is just minor, however, the presence of the New Peaple’s Army (NPA) in some areas is the problem,” de la Rosa said.
He said, “the rebels usually take advantage of the election season by asking candidates for Permit to Campaign and Permit to Win payments to earn.”
“There are politicians and candidates who give in to the extortion strategies of the NPAs, but, of course, these politicians will not tell the authorities,” he said.
He said the Joint Security Coordinating Committee (JSCC), composed of the police, military and the Commission on Elections (Comelec), will make sure that these areas will be managed during elections.”
De la Rosa bared that 1,360 police officers will be deployed on May 13.