2013 Election Hotspots Identified

Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) secretary Mar Roxas identified Friday fifteen provinces projected to become 2013 election hotspots.

According to Philstar.com, Roxas bared the priority watch list during a press conference at the PNP Headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City.

The following are reportedly considered as “high-risk areas in terms of political violence:”

1. Abra
2. Basilan
3. Batangas
4. Cagayan
5. Cavite
6. Ilocos Sur
7. Lanao del Sur
8. La Union
9. Maguindanao
10. Masbate
11. Misamis Occidental
12. Nueva Ecija
13. Pangasinan
14. Pampanga
15. Samar

Roxas explained that the inclusion of these areas in the list was based on “several factors and objective criteria” such as “the presence of private armed groups, loose firearms, intense political rivalries, past history of election violence,” and “presence of other threat groups like terrorists and communist rebels,” the report said.