LEGAZPI CITY, (PNA) -– The province of Albay registered the lowest percentage of barangays placed under the Election Watch List Areas of the police in Bicol based on its total number of barangays.
Albay has 720 barangays and 36 are under the watch list areas or only five percent.
Second is Catanduanes, with 22 barangays over a total of 315 or 7.0 percent; next is Camarines Sur, 155 barangays over a total of 1, 063; fourth is Camarines Norte, with 84 barangay over 282 or 29.8 percent; and fifth is Sorsogon, 177 over a total of 541 barangays or 32.7 percent.
Masbate has the highest percentage among Bicol prorvinces, with 230 barangays out of a total of 550 or 41.8 percent.
Bicol region has 704 barangays out of a total of 3,417 or 20.6 percent under the Comelec election watch list areas.
Chief Supt. Victor P. Deona, Police Regional Office 5 director, said the election watch-list areas in the region have two categories: first, there is an intense political rivalry in the area, the presence of private armed groups and there is election-related violent incidents in the past election.
The second category is one where there is a threat from the communist rebels – the National Democratic Front/Communist Party of the Philippines/NPA, Deona said.