DIGOS City, Davao del Sur (PIA)-- Ten barangays in Davao del Sur have been identified as areas of concern in the upcoming Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections. 

Provincial Director Giuseppe Geralde of the Davao del Sur Police Provincial Office, who is also a member of the Provincial Joint Security Control Center, said that out of the 232 barangays in the province, 10 are classified as yellow while 222 others have no security concerns.

He explained that when a barangay is classified under the yellow category, there were incidents that occurred in the previous elections, citing that during the 2022 national elections, incidents occurred in two out of the three barangays in Sulop; an intense political rivalry between two opposing candidates was also noted in two barangays in Matanao town.

Geralde said Magsaysay town has one barangay while Hagonoy town and Digos City have two barangays each that require close attention from the police.

The Regional Joint Security Control Center has classified the Davao Region into different categories based on their safety levels, he said, pointing out that areas in the green category are considered safe with no political issues.

“The yellow category includes places that have a history of incidents or rumors of intense political rivalry; the orange category is marked by the presence of communist rebels, criminal gangs, and Moro rebels; while the red category refers to areas where the government has lost control and where Moro, communist rebels, and criminal gangs are present,” Geralde said. (JBG/JSGD-PIA Davao del Sur).