Article by:
Edwin Fernandez
COTABATO CITY – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) is finalizing its list of areas of concern in the region for the May 9 polls.
Lawyer Renault Macarambon, Comelec-BARMM assistant regional director, said Wednesday they are reviewing all places in the region that are up for classification as areas of immediate concern and areas of concern.
“During election season in the BARMM, the security of voters, poll officials, and the public is a major issue,” Macarambon said in an interview by reporters here.
He said areas of immediate concern are barangays, municipalities, and provinces where violence is likely to occur due to intense political rivalries, the huge presence of armed groups, private armies, and lawless elements.
Areas of concern, on the other hand, are places that have a history of election-related incidents in the past.
“We are still in the process of finalizing our list of areas for classification, now and then we conduct an assessment with our security sectors,” Macarambon added in the vernacular.
BARMM comprises the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi; the cities of Cotabato, Marawi and Lamitan; and the 63 villages in six towns of North Cotabato.
The presence of the Dawlah Islamiya terror group, the Abu Sayyaf Group in the western part of BARMM, private armed groups, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, and other lawless groups are among the issues being discussed by military and police authorities in the region.
Macarambon said regular meetings and assessment of security matters will eat up most of the time of Comelec personnel as part of the poll body’s efforts to ensure the May 9 elections will be peaceful, orderly, and acceptable to all.
“This is our main objective, orderly, peaceful, and safe national and local elections in the region,” he added.
He said the Comelec provincial and municipal offices in the region will soon launch “Oplan Baklas” a campaign to remove unauthorized campaign materials of candidates for both local and national posts.
Macarambon has appealed to all candidates and their supporters to remove their unauthorized propaganda materials displayed outside common poster areas.
“Campaign posters must not be nailed on trees, but only in Comelec identified common poster areas,” he added.
Brig. Gen. Arthur Cabalona, newly installed police regional director for BARMM, also assured the public that the police, as Comelec deputies, will ensure that the upcoming polls in the region will be peaceful and orderly.
Cabalona urged his subordinates to contribute to the national government’s desire to come up with credible and problem-free elections. (PNA)
Log in with Google