DAVAO CITY – At least 16 municipalities in Davao City have been placed under election watchlist due to intense political rivalries and presence of the New People’s Army (NPA).
PMAJ. Atty. Eudisan Gultiano, spokesperson for PRO-Davao, said that police authorities have already beefed up their presence in these areas to ensure a peaceful conduct of the May 9 National and Local elections.
She said PRO-Davao is ready to deploy more troops if needed.
Out of the total towns under watchlist, eight were classified under the “yellow” category. These are Sta. Cruz, Matanao, Magsaysay, Malalag, Hagonoy, and Padada in Davao del Sur; New Corella in Davao del Norte; and Mokayo in Davao de Oro. Areas under this classification have a history of intense political rivalry in the previous elections.
Meanwhile, these municipalities have been placed under “orange” category due to the presence of NPA: Mabini, Maco, Maragusan, Montevista, New Bataan, and Pantukan in Davao de Oro; Lupon, Davao Oriental; and Kiblawan, Davao del Sur.
She said the start of local campaign period in the region last March 25 was peaceful as authorities received no election-related incidents, except for “political statements” between parties that authorities do not consider as “harassments.”
“In Davao Region, the start of the local campaign period was very peaceful. We have no reported untoward incident. So far, the local candidates are compliant with the procedures and other rules and policies while conducting their campaign rally,” she said.
She said no areas in the region placed in the highest “red” category where both history of intense political rivalries and sightings of NPAs are present.
She said authorities are constantly assessing the local governments on election-related incidents.
She added authorities will beef up their operations to secure the areas days before the election.
“Our deployment has been set. So far, the situation has been well-handled by our commanders. Once may request for augmentation and deployment, they will be prioritized for deployment,” she said.