Regions
ELECTION WATCHLIST AREAS ARE TO BE DETERMINED AFTER COC FILING

BACOLOD CITY: The Commission on Elections (Comelec) with the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will come up with a list of the election watchlist areas, or EWAs, after the filing of the Certificates of Candidacy (CoCs) for the October 30 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections. Lawyer Ian Lee Ananoria, the provincial election supervisor, said he will wait until after the filing of the CoCs to determine what are the hotly contested areas. The filing of the CoC is set from August 28 to September 2 based on the revised schedule of activities for the coming election. Ananoria said the Comelec national office has not yet given the go signal for the activation of the Joint Security Control Center (JSCC), which will be composed of Comelec, the PNP and the AFP. On April 3, 17 local government units in Negros Occidental were included among the 158 election watchlist areas in the Visayas. The list was submitted during the first quarter Visayas JSCC meeting in Cebu City. The 17 localities in Negros Occidental are Don Salvador Benedicto — an area of concern; Silay City, Victorias City, Toboso, Binalbagan, Himamaylan City, Kabankalan City, Hinoba-an, Sipalay City, Isabela, La Castellana, Calatrava, Ilog and Cauayan — areas of immediate concern; and Candoni, Moises Padilla and Escalante City — areas of grave concern. Ananoria said the list and determination could be part of their routine work and based on the parameters like insurgency set by the military. 'We will definitely discuss and reconcile the list once the local JSCC is convened,' Ananoria said. Once the national JSCC is convened, it will cascade to the local situation, he said.