Comelec declares Mindanao, Abra poll hotspots
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Tue, 19 Mar 2019 14:51:03 +0000
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Tuesday declared the entire region of Mindanao and the province of Abra election hotspots.
The poll body placed Mindanao and three other areas under the “red” category.
The other areas were Jones town in Isabela, Lope de Vega town in Northern Samar and the entire province of Abra.
An area is placed under the red category if it had suspected election-related incidents in the last two elections, or if there are serious armed threats from rebel groups such as the New People’s Army, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, Abu Sayyaf Group and rogue members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front or other groups.
In December last year, Congress extended martial law in Mindanao for another year or until December 31, 2019. Martial law was declared in the South in May 2017 after the Maute terror group laid siege to Marawi City.
The Comelec can direct the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to deploy more troops to areas tagged as election hotspots to augment forces and boost security measures. The poll body can also order the reshuffe of security forces if the need arises.
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