The Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office yesterday said four areas are considered “hot spots” for the May 13, 2013 elections, and identified three private armed groups operating in the province.

Senior Supt. Edward Carranza, NOPPO director, yesterday said the “hot spots” are all in the first district of the province, and include Tayasan town and Guihulngan City. He did not identify the two others.

He said the mayoralty race is hotly contested in Guihulngan by former three-termer congressman Jacinto Jing Paras and incumbent vice mayor Guido Reyes, son of last-termer mayor Ernesto Reyes.

Carranza said the parameters for an area to be considered a “hot spot” are present in those places, and also based on past incidents in the district.

He cited his recent order to dismantle a checkpoint in Brgy. Nabilog, Tayasan, allegedly manned by personnel of a big landlord, to prevent a candidate for sangguniang bayan from entering the town. Reports said the candidate was told not to pursue his plan to run, Carranza said.

Meanwhile, Carranza said three private armed groups are operating in each district of the province, and identified them as the Tanasan-Libron group in the third district, Garsula in the second district, and the one based in Canlaon City.

The Tanasan-Libron group is being neutralized and nine of its members, including the leader, are already in jail, with no bail bond recommended. However, a number of them are still free, he said.

The group in Canlaon City, on the other hand, can easily be mobilized by whoever is supporting them, so the police is closely monitoring their activities, Carranza said.

The NOPPO and the Philippine Army are also coordinating with each other on election-related peace and security concerns through the Joint Peace and Security Council Center, even if it has yet to be officially convened by the provincial Commission on Elections.*JG

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