LEGAZPI CITY (PNA) – The Albay Provincial Police Office (APPO) identified 96 barangays as election Areas of Concern (AOC) in connection with the October 30 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE).

In an interview on Friday, September 22, APPO spokesperson Police Capt. Kharren Formales said 17 barangays are under the “Red” category which means strict intervention by the police and the military.

Thirty-three are under the “Orange” category or with previous records of election-related conflicts but can be managed while 46 are “Yellow” or with a history of election-related incidents and possible employment of partisan armed groups.

Formales said the rest of the 624 barangays are under code “Green” which means they do not have security concerns and are generally peaceful and orderly.

"We continue to conduct checkpoints, chokepoints, and police presence or visibility in different areas in the province. We also have scheduled peace covenant signing and candidates’ forum for all 15 municipalities and three cities. The candidates have sworn their commitment to peaceful, honest, and clean elections," she said.

In a separate interview, APPO director Police Col. Fernando Cunanan Jr. said additional police forces will be placed in the AOC, particularly those in the Red category.

"The barangays under the Red and Orange category were already discussed during the deliberation with the Joint Peace and Security Coordinating Council. Dadagdagan po natin ang puwersa doon (We will increase the forces there), together with the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the members of the council," Cunanan said.

"Though ngayon po wala naman tayong nakikitang problema doon. However, during the past election kasi doon nagka-problem kaya recorded pa rin sila (now we don't see any problems there. However, during the past election, there were problems that's why they are still recorded)," he said.