CEBU CITY—At least seven areas in the province of Cebu are being closely monitored as the national and local elections draw near.
The towns of Madridejos, Daanbantayan, San Fernando, Bogo City, and portions of Camotes Island are being considered as “areas of concern” due to their history of election-related violence, political rivalry, and geographical location.
Preparations for the May 9 elections were discussed when officials of the Commission on Elections (Comelec)-Cebu, Armed Forces of the Philippines and local police held a security briefing at the Provincial Capitol on Monday.
“There are areas, although minimal, that we are monitoring are areas of concern. But we cannot consider them as election hotspots,” said lawyer Jerome Brillantes, acting Provincial Elections Supervisor of Comelec-Cebu.
Brillantes said that as areas of concern, these locations will be closely monitored and will be provided with additional security.
“Whenever something comes up and the situation becomes volatile, at least we are ready because we will never really know what will happen,” Brillantes added.
Brillantes assured that the Comelec-Cebu is already prepared for the holding of the election.
Cebu province has about 3.2 million registered voters, the biggest among the provinces in the country.
“We’re 101 percent ready. Our ballot boxes are now in place,” said Brilliantes.
“The VCMs (vote-counting machines) arrived in the second week of April. So everything is in place already,” he added.