The Philippine National Police (PNP) has submitted to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) a list of potential areas of concern for the 2025 midterm elections.
PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo said the list was based on the existing parameters for the declaration of a barangay, a town or city or a province under four categories of election security classifications.
Based on the existing parameters, among the considerations are the history of election-related violence in the past elections, the occurrence of any incident of violence relating to the midterm polls, and the present status of political rivalry.
“We submitted the list of the election areas of concern to the Comelec because it is the Comelec alone which can determine and declare if they ate areas of concern,” said Fajardo.
The Comelec as the deciding agency is the reason, according to Fajardo, why they could not announce the number of possible areas of concern and identify these areas.
She explained that the declaration must undergo a process first, including a validation of the joint peace security coordinating council composed of the PNP, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and headed by the Comelec.
Based on the PNP data in the 2022 national and local elections, there were 108 areas under Red Category, a number of them were in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
As to the ongoing filing of certificate of candidacy (COC), Fajardo said it was generally peaceful since Oct. 1.
But she said police forces remain on alert until Oct. 8, the last day of the COC filing.