In preparation for the upcoming May 2025 midterm elections, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has designated seven areas in Pangasinan as yellow category locations. This classification includes the cities of Dagupan and Urdaneta, along with the municipalities of Aguilar, Binmaley, Malasiqui, Mangaldan, and Sual. The decision was made by Comelec’s central office, independent of local recommendations, as confirmed by lawyer Ericson Oganiza, the provincial election supervisor for Pangasinan.
The yellow category is assigned based on specific criteria such as the occurrence of suspected election-related incidents in the past two elections, intense political rivalry, potential use of private armed groups by candidates, and politically motivated incidents during the current election period, all without the involvement of domestic terror groups. Oganiza emphasized that these areas are under police surveillance due to their history, but they are not experiencing chaos or significant violence.
He reassured the public that the yellow categorization would not disrupt the peace and order in the province. According to Comelec’s color-coding system, green indicates no issues, yellow signifies a history of political unrest, orange denotes the presence of armed groups, and red marks critical areas.