WITH one week to go before the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections, the Aquino
administration has identified six percent of 42,000 barangays in the country as “election
watch areas” or more commonly referred to as hot spots.
Among those identified as “election watch areas,” according to Interior and Local Government
Secretary Jesse Robredo are Abra, Masbate, Maguindanao and some parts of Mindanao.
Robredo disclosed this Friday before the start of the Philippine Business Conference at the
Manila Hotel, where he signed on behalf of the local government units the memorandum of
agreement with the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry for the improvement of
the business environment.
“Based on our assessment, if you compare this with the May 2010 elections, we expect it to
be more peaceful and orderly as we have had intensive discussions and monitoring of the
situation in the local governments,” Robredo said.
“Basically we have categorized two groups such as areas with a proliferation of private armed
groups or private armies and those that have active presence of rebel groups like the Moro
Islamic Liberation Front, the Abu Sayyaf Group and the New Peoples’ Army,” he said. (PIA)
