42 towns, cities in Ilocos in poll watchlist
THE police will be keeping a close watch on 42 towns and cities in the Ilocos Region during the campaign period until May 10 election day.
Police Regional Director Constante Azares Jr., speaking to newsmen in Dagupan City on Wednesday, however, said some towns may likely be removed from the list as soon as they establish that election-related violence is unlikely to happen.
Azares said he foresees that at least half of the 42 towns and cities will be taken out of the list before the campaign period for local candidates starts on March 26.
Among those likely to be delisted are Alaminos and Dagupan cities, according to P/Supt. Mariano Luis Verzosa, Dagupan chief of police.
Verzosa, in a separate interview, said he is actually puzzled why Dagupan was even included since the city has had no history of election-related violence during polls in recent years.
He said the inclusion of Dagupan in the watch list due to noted keen political rivalry among candidates is highly disputable.
A close contest for the mayoralty position between incumbent Mayor Alipio Fernandez Jr. and former Mayor Benjamin Lim is indeed expected but no violence is foreseen to result from it.
In the case of Alaminos City, Mayor Hernani Braganza expressed fear that his city’s inclusion in the watch list may unduly alarm domestic and foreign tourists visiting the Hundred Islands National Park.
Azares said the list will be updated soon, delisting all places with no known historical poll-related.
GUN BAN
Meanwhile, Azares reported that at least 60 people have so far been arrested by the police in the Ilocos Region for violating the election gun ban, which took effect January 10.
He said this number is negligible in a three million regional population.—LM
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