Comelec to augment security forces in Antique

Antique Provincial Election Supervisor Salud Milagros Villanueva said Wednesday that there will be an augmentation of security forces in 12 areas classified as areas of concern in Antique province to ensure the safety of voters for the upcoming 2023 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.

According to Villanueva, the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army poses a major threat to around 12 barangays in the towns of Sibalom and San Remigio, placing them in the category of areas of concern.

"Of the 12 barangays, there are five in San Remigio and seven in Sibalom," Villanueva said.

The said barangays are along the boundaries of Iloilo and Antique.

Villanueva stressed that the agency is ready for the election where their contingency plan is in place, including for incidents of power outages.

She added that the Commission on Elections is currently training over 5,000 poll workers who will serve at the electoral board in various polling centers in 18 municipalities of Antique on the BSKE polls.

Villanueva reminded the candidates to refrain from engaging in vote buying.

"Comelec keeps on reminding the candidates and the voters against vote buying and selling, she said.

She said the Comelec continues to campaign against vote buying and selling, which merits a stiff penalty if proven guilty.