COMMISSION on Elections (Comelec) chair Saidamen Pangarungan announced on Tuesday that more towns in Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur have been placed under control of the poll body. Pangarungan, in a tweet by GMA News’ Tina Panganiban-Perez, said the Comelec placed six municipalities in the province of Maguindanao and one city and one municipality in Lanao del Sur under its control.
Upon the recommendation of the Philippine National Police, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Comelec Regional Election director Ray Sumalipao, the Committeee on the Ban on Firearms and Security Concerns, the following have been placed under Comelec control:
Maguindanao
Buluan
Datu Odin Sinsuat
Datu Piang
Mangudadatu
Pandag
Sultan Kudarat
Lanao del Sur
Marawi City
Maguing
Earlier placed under Comelec control were the towns of Tubaran and Malabang towns in Lanao del Sur.
Under Comelec Resolution 10757, an area may be placed under Comelec control if it has the following circumstances:
History of/or current intense rivalry among contending parties.
Such rivalries could motivate people to engage in violent acts;
Incidents of politically-motivated violence involving aspirants/candidates and other supporters;
Violence may be facilitated by the employment of Private Armed Groups (PAGs); and
Serious armed threats posed by the Communist Terrorist Groups (CTGs), & other threat groups including BIFFs, Abu Sayyaf Group, Maute Group, & other analogous threat groups as may be declared by the competent authority or other paramilitary forces, private armies or identifiable armed bands widely perceived to have committed terrorism, fraud or other election irregularities and threaten or disrupt the holding of free, peaceful, honest, orderly, & credible elections in any political division, subdivision, unit or area.
As regards other areas, Pangarungan said the poll body was “continuously upgrading and updating” their assessment status.
The PNP previously submitted a list of areas in the country based on the level of threats in connection with the May 9 elections.
Areas were classified into four color-coded categories: green, yellow, orange, and red.
