Caraga top brass declares 51 towns, cities as hotspots

By Ben Serrano,
Correspondent

BUTUAN City — The Police Regional Office 13 has declared 51 towns and cities in Caraga Region as Election Watch List areas (EWA) –– 11 in Agusan del Norte, 13 in Agusan del Sur, 11 in Surigao del Norte, 15 in Surigao del Sur, and one in Dinagat Islands.

Regional Director Chief Supt. Rolando Felix said he is set to deploy some 3,000 cops in five provinces in the region.

During a presser at the PRO13 conference room at Camp Rafael Rodriguez in Barangay Libertad, this city, Felix said they are guided by three categories in classifying areas as election hotspots.

Towns, cities, and provinces are classified under Category 1 if incidents are purely political; while under Category 2 due presence of threat groups, like armed groups.

The last category is the combination of Categories 1 and 2 which is an area that is considered a hotspot still.

Felix said only a municipality in Dinagat Islands falls under Category 1 and the rest of the hotspots in Caraga are under Category 3.

Meanwhile, Agusan del Sur Provincial Police Director Senior Supt Joseph Plaza told reporters in the same press conference that they need not worry about what happened in Sitio Asuncion, Barangay Lydia, La Paz, Agusan del Sur the other day where seven re-electionist municipal councilors were held for an hour by some 40 suspected, fully armed New People’s Army combatants.

“The councilors were immediately freed after some lecturing from the communist rebels,” said Plaza.

Plaza idenified the wounded as Elvin Arguelles, a 19 year-old supporter of incumbent, re-electionist La Paz Councilor Juanito Jumunong Jr.

Arguelles was shot by the rebels when he tried to run away from the group after they were flagged down by some 20 NPA rebel at about 12:30 pm, Thursday, Plaza added.