BSKE SECURITY. Police Major Joanne Navarro, spokesperson of the Police Regional Office Region 10 (PRO-10) updates the press on the number of barangays in Northern Mindanao under "Areas of Concern" on Saturday (Sept. 16, 2023). Navarro's data from the PRO-10 showed that while there were no barangays under code "red," there are 155 under code "orange," and 42 in code "yellow." (PNA photo by Nef Luczon)
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY - The Police Regional Office in Northern Mindanao (PRO-10) on Saturday identified 197 barangays as election “areas of concern” (AOC) for the upcoming Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE).
Although identified as AOC, Maj. Joanne Navarro, PRO-10 spokesperson, said there were no barangays that fell under the “Red” category or critical or intense that requires strict intervention of police and the military.
"We only have 155 barangays under (code) Orange which means there were previous records of election-related conflicts but can be managed; there were only 42 barangays under Yellow," she said, citing data from PRO-10's Regional Intelligence Division.
Yellow means the areas have a minimal history of political unrest while Orange indicates previous presence of armed groups and other incidents related to peace and order.
Navarro said the rest of the barangays in the region, accounting for 1,825, are in code Green or relatively peaceful.
"These figures we have, as of August, were relatively lower compared to the previous election season, and these figures might change on the actual election day (Oct. 30)," she said.
Navarro presented the data before participants of the BSKE training activity organized by the Cagayan de Oro Press Club and the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
In the 155 barangays under AOC, 60 barangays are within this city while 92 others are in the province of Bukidnon. (PNA)
