8 Pangasinan LGUs named ‘areas of concern’ for May polls

GUN CHECK Police inspect vehicles at a Commission on Elections checkpoint along Tapuac Road in Dagupan City, Pangasinan, on Jan. 12, at the start of the election gun ban. —Willy Lomibao

LINGAYEN, PANGASINAN, Philippines — Two cities and six towns in Pangasinan were placed under “areas of concern” in line with the midterm elections in May, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) provincial office said.

Lawyer Ericson Organiza, Comelec Pangasinan elections supervisor, identified these local government units (LGUs) as the cities of Urdaneta and Dagupan, and the towns of Aguilar, Binmaley, Malasiqui, Mangaldan, San Quintin and Sual.

These LGUs are under the “yellow” category but could be elevated to the “orange” or “red” category or downgraded to the “green” category (does not have a security concern) depending on the circumstances on the days before the elections, said Organiza in an interview on Friday after the signing of the peace covenant with local stakeholders for the midterm elections here.

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Areas listed under the yellow category mean there was an occurrence of suspected election incidents in the last two elections, intense political rivalry, and possible employment of partisan armed groups by the candidates in the area.

Organiza did not identify what these past election-related incidents were.

However, the last recorded election-related violence in Pangasinan was during the barangay and youth polls in 2023, involving the killing of Arnel Adolfo Flormata, 44, who was running for barangay captain of Bayaoas in Aguilar. He was shot dead after a miting de avance on Oct. 22, 2023.

According to Organiza, there might also be motivated election-related incidents in the current election period and the area has been previously declared under Comelec control.

Constant monitoring

Pangasinan police director Col. Rollyfer Capoquian said the eight localities are under constant monitoring and “so far, they are peaceful.”

Capoquian, in a separate interview at the same Friday event, also assured there are no private armed groups in the province and that those that existed in the past have been dismantled.

Organiza said 2,156,306 voters in Pangasinan will vote in 2,869 cluster precincts this May.

The interfaith prayer rally, solidarity pact, peace covenant, and candidates forum on Friday, which was spearheaded by the Pangasinan police, only had a few candidates in attendance, as it was held simultaneously with similar activities organized separately by the local governments in the province.