• DCPO says latest intel report clears all barangays in city
There is no barangays placed under the election watch list areas (EWA)s in the city, the Davao City Police Office (DCPO) chief said yesterday.
DCPO Director Sr. Supt. Alexander Tagum cited the latest validated finding of the intelligence research section of DCPO’s Intelligence Branch, which the Philippine Army’s intelligence unit supported, clearing all the barangays.
Earlier, Tagum said they may put under the election watch list 45 farflung barangays, mostly in the districts of Paquibato and Marilog, that were “previously under the influence of the New People’s Army (NPA).”
The 1003rd Infantry Brigade under Brig. Gen. Ernesto Torres Jr. has reported that there is no more NPA sighting in the far-flung barangays of the city.
In a recent Joint AFP-PNP Intelligence Council (JAPIC) meeting, 143 barangays in the city are considered “relatively peaceful or orderly with no security concerns” while 39 barangays were place under Orange category.
Orange category means the area has a serious armed threat posed by the NPA, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, Abu Sayyaf Group, and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Last Jan. 16, the Davao Police Regional Office cleared 823 out of nearly 1,200 barangays in the region after determining that there are no more security concerns in these areas for the coming mid-term elections.
The JAPIC meeting amended the classification of the barangays listed in the poll watch list — from the original numbers to color-coding, PRO spokesperson Chief Insp. Jason Baria said.
PRO XI Director Chief Supt. Marcelo Morales said the Commission on Elections thought the color-coding scheme – green, yellow, orange, and red — would make it easier to map out the jurisdictions of the different police stations and army battalions.
Green category means the area is relatively peaceful or orderly with no security concerns.
Yellow category states there’s an existence of election-related incident. While there is no domestic threat groups and intense political rivalry, there is a possibility that the candidates will hire armed groups.
Category Orange means the area has a combination of one or more factors: there is a serious armed threat posed by the NPA, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, Abu Sayyaf Group, and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
In Red category, there is an existence of election-related incident (as stated on Yellow category) and the serious presence of armed threat groups such as the NPA Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, Abu Sayyaf Group, and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (as stated on Orange category).
Based on the record listed by the Regional Intelligence Division, there are 86 areas under the Yellow category, 233 in Orange, and 13 for Red in the five provinces and one major city in the region.
Davao del Sur has the only Red category in the region with 13 barangays. Other barangays are Orange (132) and Yellow (17). There are 63 barangays that are in Green category.
In Davao Occidental, 97 areas fall under Green; seven in Orange; and one in Yellow.
In Davao del Norte, 186 areas are Green and 37 are Orange.
In Compostela Valley, 169 areas are Green and 68 are Yellow.
“We are happy since more areas are under category Green,” said Capt. Jerry Lamosao, spokesperson of 10th Infantry Division.
“We also expect safer and smoother mid-term elections with what we have started with our checkpoint,” Lamosao added.
