AT least 72 barangays in Samar have been tagged as areas of grave concern in the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections on October 30, said the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
Calbayog City has 60 barangays and the municipalities of Santa Margarita and Matuguinao have five and seven, respectively.
Barangays under areas of concern in the red category mean that they might warrant Commission on Elections control.
Calbayog has 14 barangays listed under areas of immediate concern under the orange category which means they have a serious armed threat.
Also under this is Gandara with four barangays, two in Santa Margarita, four in Matuguinao, 12 in Calbiga, and eight in Pinabacdao.
In Northern Samar, Victoria has four, Bobon has two, and Lavezares and San Isidro have one each.
The town of Leyte in Leyte has four barangays and three from Villaba. Leyte province has been placed under the yellow category or areas of concern with election-related incidents.
Matuguinao Mayor Aran Boller said that of all the listed areas of concern in the municipality, only the far-flung barangay of San Roque, which is about 20 kilometers from the town proper, has opposing candidates.
San Roque is only accessible through hiking for about eight to nine hours and is closer to Silvino Lobos, Northern Samar.
Boller is grateful for the security that will be provided to maintain peace and order in Matuguinao during the BSKE.
“We are now peaceful as opposed to the elections in the previous years because of the conflict with the New People’s Army (NPA) but now we are grateful that the people heeded our appeal to not fight over the elections because it destroys family relations,” he said.
Boller added that they have sustained their gains against local insurgency which should be maintained to attain development.
