The first three days of the local campaign in Negros Occidental was described as a “fiesta-like” atmosphere and no untoward incidents reported.
“I have not heard of any report as far as violence related to the campaign. I was able to attend some and of course, it’s like a fiesta. All supporters are out in the open supporting their respective candidates. We hope to maintain that in the remaining days of the campaign period,” Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said on Monday in an interview with the media.
Lacson acknowledged though that the Philippine National Police has identified election watchlist areas in Negros Occidental.
“But these are mostly related to the armed insurgency. That is something we cannot control as a candidate. As far as the local campaign is concerned, it seems to be doing well,” he said.
The Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office has listed 18 election watchlist areas in the province, including Don Salvador Benedicto, which is under Category Yellow; and the cities of Silay, Victorias, Himamaylan, Kabankalan, and Sipalay, as well as the municipalities of Binalbagan, Manapla, Cauayan, Hinobaan, Ilog, Isabela, La Castellana, and Toboso, which are all listed under Category Orange.
Placed under Category Red are Escalante City, Calatrava, Moises Padilla, and Candoni.
Areas under Category Yellow are considered areas of concern, or with a history of election-related incidents in the last elections, possible employment of partisan armed groups, the occurrence of politically motivated election-related incidents, and had been previously declared under the Comelec control.
Category Orange refers to areas of immediate concern, where there is a serious armed threat, while those under Category Red are tagged as areas of grave concern, which exhibit combined factors under Category Yellow and with serious armed threats that may warrant the motu proprio (on its own) declaration of Commission on Elections control.
Meanwhile, Lacson said the big crowds in campaign rallies amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic is also something that is “hard to control” as these are “already the people speaking”.
“We just hope no surge will happen after the campaign period,” he added.
Currently, Negros Occidental is still under Alert Level 2, but has only 50 remaining active Covid-19 cases as of March 27, data from the Provincial Incident Management Team showed.
Source: Philippines News Agency