14 Butuan villages declared as election hot spots

BUTUAN CITY - Task Force HOPE in this southern Philippine city has identified 14 villages as election hot spots in the upcoming October 25 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections. Butuan City Police Director Senior Supt. Bensons Leleng identified the following villages in Barangay Anticala as among the areas considered as hot spots:

Tungao;

Bitan-agan;

Nong-Nong;

Manila De Bugabos;

Sitio Iyao;

Sitio Sinaka;

Sitio, Tagkiling, and

Sitio Patagon (suspected to be infested by New People's Army rebels). The other areas identified as hot spots were:

Sitios Imelda and Tagulahi in Barangay Antongalon;

Sitio Pondok in Barangay Sumilihon;

Sitio Daan in Barangay Bugsukan;

Sitio Balite in Barangay Bit-os, and

Sitio Dumayokdok in Barangay Kinamlutan. Task Force HOPE (Task Force Honest, Orderly and Peaceful Elections) is composed of the Commission on Elections, Philippine National Police, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Hot spots are declared based on these six criteria of the Joint Security Control Center (JSCC):

presence of armed groups or communist insurgents;

history of previous rivalries among local politicians;

local culture, geographical situation;

mountainous areas;

winnability of contending parties, and

presence of law enforcers, troops or Commission on Elections personnel. The JSCC also confirms the presence of private armies or partisan armed groups allegedly maintained by some political dynasties, groups or moneyed politicians in the region. May 10 elections In the May 10 local and national elections, some 41 towns and cities in five provinces of the Caraga region namely Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, the two Surigao provinces and Dinagat Islands province were identified poll hot spots. Newly-installed Caraga Police Regional Director Chief Supt. Reynaldo Serrano Rafal said he is going to reassess the May 10 poll hot spots to determine whether they should also be considered on the watch list for election-related violence for the October 25 polls. “It will depend on the result of our re-assessment, however in Butuan City because it is near the PNP regional office and where other regional offices of concerned are near, we already identified poll hot spot areas" of Butuan , Rafal said. – VVP, GMANews.TV