THE Commission on Elections (COMELEC) – Pangasinan provincial office still has not identified a town or city in the province that can be considered as ‘election hotspot’.

This was bared by Atty. Marino Salas, provincial election supervisor, in an interview during the launching of the ‘simultaneous checkpoint operations’ for the election period on January 9.

Salas, however, clarified that while Pangasinan still has not listed towns in its Election Watchlist of Areas (EWA), some towns are already given special attention because of recent incidents that could lead to possible disruption of public order.

Salas cited the town of Tayug which was recently rocked by a bomb scare incident two weeks ago.

He said investigation is going on to determine if the bomb scare was merely a prank or politically motivated.

Salas said future politically-motivated incidents will compel the COMELEC, PNP, AFP, and other concerned agencies to validate circumstances and the concerned LGUs will be labeled as orange, yellow, or red category.

Yellow is the term for areas of concern, and orange for areas of immediate concern.

Areas tagged yellow either have a history of election-related incidents in two previously-held elections, of intense rivalry, or of areas previously placed under COMELEC control.

Areas under orange refer to areas with serious armed threats by some groups.

Red, the highest category of hot spots, have both characteristics of yellow and orange areas. There will be increased deployment in those areas. (Ahikam Pasion)

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