Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairperson Saidamen B. Pangarungan bared that the poll body has placed 104 municipalities and 14 cities under the red category.
“Actually, we have 104 municipalities sa buong Pilipinas na naka-pula ( in the Philippines under red category) meaning areas of great concern, at 14 cities na naka-red category rin (also under red category),” he said during an ambush interview in Basilan, Saturday, April 23.
However, Pangarungan did not disclose the areas that the Comelec placed under red category.
He said they are closely monitoring the 104 municipalities and 14 cities.
“pag may sumiklab diyan na (If there is) violence that threatens the peace of the election, we might declare that under Comelec control,” he said.
The Comelec uses a color-coded system to tag “areas of concern”, formerly called election “hotspots.”
Areas tagged as green have no problem and no cause for concern; yellow means the areas have a history of political unrest; while Orange indicates such areas have armed groups.
On April 4, the Philippine National Police (PNP) has recommended placing 100 municipalities and 14 cities under the Comelec’s red category.