MANILA, Philippines – Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Garcia said the poll body is studying whether to put any area under its control for the upcoming barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE).

Garcia’s statement was in response to a query on a pending Comelec decision on the proposed postponement of the BSKE in Negros Oriental.

“We will make a decision in the last week of September,” Garcia said on Monday, August 28, adding that the poll body is closely monitoring the situation there as well as in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

“When we had a command conference last week with the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, and the Philippine Coast Guard, they gave us 27 areas classified as ‘category red,'” Garcia also noted. “We’re looking at it to check which of the 27 can be placed under Comelec control.”

The poll body usually places an area under its control when the peace and order situation there hampers the conduct of elections.

When an area is under Comelec control, the commission has direct supervision over officials and employees, and full control over law enforcement agencies. 

Watch Garcia’s full response here.

– Rappler.com