Pasay, QC declared poll-related ‘areas of concern’

MANILA, Philippines — The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) has declared Pasay and Quezon City as “areas of concern” due to election-related violent incidents, an official said yesterday.

 NCRPO director Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said on the sidelines of a Philippine National Police (PNP) command conference that the death of Barangay Bagong Silangan chair Crisell Beltran, who was running for a House seat in the 2019 polls, prompted them to declare Quezon City as an area of concern.

He also said that Pasay was deemed an area of concern after some barangay officials were wounded in election-related violent incidents in the past few weeks.

 Eleazar, however, clarified that there are no election-related hot spots in the metropolis. 

 He said the PNP did not find any reason to consider the two cities under the jurisdiction of the Commission on Elections, but noted that the conditions in Pasay and Quezon City fit the parameters set by the police for areas of concern.

 Eleazar said while other regions are concerned with the “presence of local communist terrorist groups” and “intense political rivalry,” Metro Manila does not have such problems.

Eleazar said the NCRPO will deploy around 15,000 police officers to the polling precincts for next month’s elections.