75 killed, 26 injured in polls

At least 75 people were killed and 26 others injured in what authorities described as "generally peaceful" barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections, a special presidential task force reported yesterday.

Armed Forces vice chief Lt. Gen. Gregorio Camiling, head of Task Force Hope which is tracking election-related violence, said the killings included 18 government officials and five candidates, among them an 18-year-old girl who was virtually beheaded in South Cotabato.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) declared last night a failure of elections in 37 barangays, five precincts and two municipalities, mainly due to the "non-appearance of election officers." Most of the affected areas were in Central Mindanao’s Lanao del Sur.

Turnout for the elections was very low, the Comelec said, with Chairman Benjamin Abalos saying that only 40 percent of voters in Metro Manila cast their votes. During the last elections in 1997, 64 percent cast their votes in the barangay polls and 30 percent for the SK.

There were two pre-dawn explosions in South Upi, Maguindanao, an attempt to burn down the Cogon Elementary School in Cordova, Cebu, and several incidents of armed men engaging lawmen in gunfights.

"As of noon, we have monitored a total of 125 election-related incidents (since May 31). These incidents resulted in 70 persons killed and 26 injured," Camiling said.

He said the incidents included 42 shootings, nine liquidations, seven gunfights, six ambushcades, three harassments, three strafings, three abductions and two bombings.

Aside from the bloodshed and the failure of elections in barangays in Palawan, Rizal and Sulu, Comelec chairman Abalos said polling in 551 barangays in 63 municipalities nationwide was suspended for 30 days because of floods, enraging voters who were apparently not informed.

Abalos said the polls in such areas had to be suspended because the schools where the elections were to be held were still flooded from the heavy monsoon rains over the past week. But, he stressed, the polls were generally peaceful.

Abalos also questioned the statistics presented by Camiling’s Task Force Hope and said the figure may include incidents that are not really election-related.

"I don’t know where they got their data. We cannot always say that it is election-related violence," Abalos said.

"I would say that this election was generally, relatively peaceful," he added, amid incidents of "flying" and "ghost" voters, names disappearing from voters’ lists, incomplete election paraphernalia and other "usual" election irregularities.

The election watchdog Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting said the violent incidents were only "isolated" and PPCRV national chairman Antonio Ventosa assessed the election as generally "clean, honest, accurate, meaningful and peaceful."

Even the dead voted

But in Pasig City, poll watchers arrested 13 "flying" voters who admitted they were paid P100 each to vote for one of the candidates for chairman of Barangay Buting.

The 13 suspects admitted they were not registered voters of the barangay - known as "flying" voters - and were paid to vote in Barangay Buting by using the names of people who were either already dead or are working abroad.

However, the poll watchers released the suspects after they admitted that they were flying and ghost voters. Ghost voters refer to those who cast votes using the names of dead voters.

Three other voters were arrested in Navotas and Caloocan City for attempting to vote by using the names of absent or dead voters but they were also released after their attempt was exposed to legitimate voters in the polling places.

In Parañaque City, the teachers who were to serve as election inspectors walked out of their precincts after a Comelec official, identified as Calixto Ramos, changed their precinct assignments allegedly because the teachers were allegedly "electioneering."

Abalos said the Comelec and the Department of Education would conduct separate investigations on the incident.

However, the teachers group Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) slammed the Comelec officials in Parañaque for allegedly violating Comelec regulations and stressed that the incident was only one of 200 complaints they received from teachers.

ACT secretary general Raymund Villanueva lambasted the Comelec for its alleged inefficiency which is usually blamed on teachers who are only forced to work as polling place personnel despite the danger of violence in some parts of the country.

Peaceful polls?

One of the latest victims was Muslim woman Shimarie Luwa Mukamad, 18, a candidate for the Sangguniang Kabataan of Barangay Talisay in Lake Sebu, South Cotabato, who was found dead near her home, police said.

Police said Mukamad’s head was practically severed from her body but the authorities are still not certain whether her killing was politically motivated.

In South Upi, Maguindanao, a grenade was fired from an M-79 launcher into the compound of Mayor Datu Esrael Sinsuat at around 1 a.m. yesterday.

Almost an hour and a half later, another explosion, believed to be caused by an 81-mm mortar shell, was heard at around 2:20 a.m. at nearby Barangay Timanan but no one was reported injured in both incidents.

In Cordova, Cebu, still unidentified suspects set fire to the Cogon Elementary School at around 1 a.m. yesterday. No one was injured in the fire.

In Tayug, Pangasinan, the house of dentist May Agpoon was strafed with an M-14 rifle supposedly because of an ongoing political dispute between her sister and Tayug Mayor Guerrero Zaragoza.

In Santo Niño, Cagayan, a candidate for barangay councilor, identified as Rommel Morgado, 28, of Barangay Lattac, was allegedly killed by a rival bet while his campaign leader was abducted in two separate incidents over the weekend.

In Toledo City, Cebu, 15 heavily armed men, believed to be supporters of a candidate for barangay chairman, fired on policemen before dawn yesterday. The police captured two of the men, identified as Jacinto Menes and Edel Reyes, who are believed to be supporters of a barangay kagawad (councilman).

Communist bets in polls?

Interior and Local Government Secretary Jose Lina said the Toledo City councilman may be one of the bets being supported by the communist New People’s Army (NPA).

In an interview with radio station dzBB, Lina said he has received intelligence reports indicating that the NPA was campaigning for certain candidates in remote barangays in the country.

"We have received reports about the NPA support to certain candidates," he said, noting that the NPA has temporarily stopped charging for "campaign permits" in areas under their control because the barangay folk would likely be offended by the practice.

In other elections, the NPA are known to collect for such campaign permits from candidates for higher elective posts and Lina said these collections are probably being used to finance the campaign of their candidates.

"If they impose (revolutionary) taxes on (these) candidates, they would lose support in the barangays," Lina said.

Comelec officials have also confirmed that the NPA has tried to influence or even disrupt previous elections in Luzon, particularly the Cordillera region.

Comelec Cordillera regional director Armando Velasco said 68 barangays in five provinces are under the Comelec’s watchlist particularly because of the communist presence in the area.

The most sensitive, Velasco said, is Abra province which has 30 barangays in the Comelec watchlist, followed by Kalinga which has 23 barangays in the list, Mountain Province with eight on the list, Apayao with two barangays on the list and Benguet with one.

On Sunday night, a candidate for barangay captain, identified as Marlon Takorsa, was gunned down by still unidentified men in remote Sitio Calao in Barangay Bao in San Juan, Abra. But the police have not established if this was connected to the communist insurgency.

At the same time, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said yesterday there were 29 government officials who violated the 60-day gun ban imposed by law from May 31 to July 31.

The 29 officials were among the 521 persons police have arrested for violating the gun ban, resulting in the confiscation of 504 firearms, 17 explosive devices and 159 bladed weapons.

The violators include 492 civilians, 11 military personnel, six policemen, a jail officer and 10 government employees. - With reports from Roel Pareño, Edith Regalado, Ding Cervantes, Benedict Serrano,John Unson, Roberto Dejon, Eva de Leon, Myds Supnad, Artemio Dumlao, Mike Frialde, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Romel Bagares, Jerry Botial, Non Alquitran, Perseus Echeminada, Nikko Dizon, Sheila Crisostomo, Marichu Villanueva and wire services