In run-up to polls, violence continues in parts of Mindanao
COTABATO CITY—Election-related attacks targeting local political leaders and candidates continue in different parts of Mindanao in the run-up to the midterm elections on May 12, reports gathered by the Inquirer showed.
In the Maguindanao provinces, violence remains unhampered by the increased presence of government security forces out to implement the gun ban imposed by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) as part of measures to ensure the peaceful conduct of the elections.
In Lanao del Sur province, Binhar Jalambre Alon Hawad, 25, village chief of Bara-as, Picong town, was killed in an ambush on Wednesday morning at Barangay Montay in Malabang town.
Lt. Col. Jopy Ventura, spokesperson for the Bangsamoro regional police, said Hawad’s companion, Norhan Comilao Sarip, 20, was wounded in the attack that occurred past 9 a.m. as they were heading to Barangay Bacayawan aboard a Toyota Fortuner to attend a graduation ceremony.
They were taken to a hospital in Barangay Mable where Hawad, the driver, was pronounced dead.
According to the Malabang police, five unidentified gunmen staged the ambush.
A political coordinator of Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) in President Quirino town, Sultan Kudarat, was found dead in a wetland in Pandag, Maguindanao del Sur, on Tuesday, a day after he was abducted by armed men.
Ventura identified the victim as Modesto Tamayo, 57, who had stab wounds in his body.
Marlon Villa, a candidate for vice mayor of President Quirino under PFP, said Tamayo was his campaign’s municipal coordinator.
Villa said unidentified gunmen took Tamayo from his house at 6 p.m. on Monday and forced him into a van.
In Zamboanga del Sur province, an aspiring municipal councilor of Pitogo town and two companions were wounded in an ambush at 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday in Barangay Upper Panikian.
Pitogo municipal disaster risk reduction and management officer Richard Aliserat said Falconeri Buton, village chief of Upper Panikian who is running for councilor, was with four companions on their way home from a political rally in Barangay Poblacion when they were attacked.
Police said the suspects, armed with M14 and M16 rifles, were believed to have waited for the victims along a dark, grassy roadside and opened fire when their vehicle passed by.
In the Maguindanao provinces, the increased presence of troops from the Marines, Army and police’s Special Action Forces, has not deterred gunmen from attacking civilians.
In Cotabato City, a nurse on her way home from work at Cotabato Regional and Medical Center was shot and wounded in Barangay Rosary Heights 6 at 9 a.m. on April 5.
In Maguindanao del Sur, two students, both aged 23, were killed in an ambush at Barangay Zapakan in Rajah Buayan town on April 4, according to Lt. Argie Eyana, the local police chief. —WITH A REPORT FROM DREMA Q. BRAVO
