Nolcom eyes 214 CL barangays as ‘areas of concern’ in polls

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    CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – The Armed Forces Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom), which will assist the police in the barangay elections in Central Luzon, has listed 214 barangays as “areas of concern” in the region.

    Nolcom 7th Infantry Division operations chief Col. Ernesto Torres, in a forum held by the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) here, said 61 of the barangays are in eight towns in Aurora and 153 in 29 towns in Nueva Ecija under the 702nd Infantry brigade.

    The 703rd Infantry Brigade would cover other areas of concern in the other parts of Central Luzon, including 19 barangays in Bataan, 23 in Bulacan, 62 in Pampanga, 179 in Tarlac, and 49 in Zambales. For the coming barangay polls, Nolcom will deploy 443 field units and 518 augmentation forces in various parts of Central Luzon, he said.

    This would be on top of quick response forces comprising 147 from 7th ID, 518 augmentation forces, 685 field units for a total of 1,350 forces to be activated for elections, he added. Torres reported only one election-related killing in Central Luzon so far.

    He identified the victim as Rogelio Gayla, an incumbent barangay kagawad in San Nicolas in Victoria, Tarlac, who was stabbed to death by a rival last Oct. 10.

    Torres said that Nolcom’s 702nd IB will assist the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the police in the coming polls in Aurora and Nueva Ecija, while the 703rd IB will assist in the rest of Central Luzon which includes Pampanga, Tarlac, Zambales, Bataan, and Bulacan.

    In an interview, Torres said that the communist groups have candidates in the barangay polls, but he noted that the communist party is no longer illegal. “There is nothing contrary to law if communists run for barangay elections, for as long as there is no violence involved, and they do not carry firearms,” he said.

    But Torres said Nolcom forces “will deter private armed group and other armed or organized threat groups from conducting election-related violence.” “We will deny the insurgents from conducting extortion activities through permit to campaign and permit to win,” he said.

    Torres said that apart from assisting the Comelec and the police in keeping peace and order in the elections, the military will also “help the Comelec and the police in the delivery and retrieval of election equipment, documents, supplies, forms and paraphernalia as necessary.”

    He also said that for the coming barangay elections, Nolcom would deploy 121 field units and 30 augmentation forces in Aurora, 121 field units, 78 augmentation forces in Nueva Ecija, 53 field units and 54 augmentation forces in Bataan, 107 field units and 57 augmentation forces in Bulacan, 50 field units and 204 augmentation forces in Pampanga, 66 field units and 95 augmentation forces in Tarlac, and 167 field units and 108 augmentation forces in Zambales.

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