Roxas to PNP: Work double time to solve poll violence

MANILA, Philippines - Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II ordered the Philippine National Police (PNP) to work double time for the early resolution of all election-related violent incidents before and after the barangay elections last Oct. 28.

In issuing the order, Roxas said justice must be served the soonest time possible.

“We need to give justice to the families of the victims of violent incidents during the recently concluded elections,” Roxas said earlier.

Roxas said he is hopeful the situation and the lives of people affected by poll-related violent incidents will return to normal soon.

This developed as the outgoing barangay chairman who shot dead three of his siblings due to inheritance and bitter political rivalry surrendered to the police last Wednesday night.

Roxas ordered an intensive manhunt for all those responsible for violent incidents that were recorded during the Oct. 28 barangay elections.

The PNP reported to Roxas that Manuel Arcenas Sr., 62, outgoing barangay chairman of Barangay Manapao in Pontevedra, Capiz, was taken into custody past noon last Oct. 30 and is now detained at the police regional headquarters at Camp Delgado.

Investigators said Arcenas shot dead his brother Ramon, 54, sisters Jennifer Arcenas-Nuyles, 57, and Evelyn Arcenas-Espinar, 58, on Tuesday, a day after the winners of the barangay elections were announced in their area.

According to Chief Supt. Agrimero Cruz Jr., director of PNP Regional Office 6, the elder Arcenas went on a shooting rampage after learning that his daughter Isabel, who ran for barangay chairman, lost to his younger brother Ramon.

Isabel’s younger brother Manuel Jr. also lost in his bid to be a barangay councilman in their village.

A day after Ramon was proclaimed winner as barangay chairman of their place, Manuel Sr., armed with a Cal. 30 Carbine rifle, went to the house of his siblings in Barangay Manapao and shot the three victims dead.

Roxas said he was dismayed and saddened that politics led to the death of some people.

The PNP have so far arrested 683 people who violated the gun ban imposed by the Commission on Elections from Sept. 28 to Nov. 12 in connection with the barangay polls.

Lanao del Sur polls held

Elections finally pushed through in Lanao del Sur where the polls were disrupted when teachers refused to serve as Board of Election Tellers (BETs) last Oct. 28 because of security concerns, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said yesterday.

“There was no failure of elections in Lanao del Sur. The elections pushed through,” said Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes.

The poll chief, however, could not immediately ascertain the exact number of barangays in the province where Monday’s polls were postponed.

But initial reports of the Comelec showed that 51 of the 97 barangays where polling precincts did not function on election day were in Lanao del Sur.

“I don’t want to give any figure now because I still have to see the report of Commissioner Al Parreno. He was the one in Lanao del Sur,” he added.

The Comelec, he said, is also monitoring the situation in Calayan Islands in Cagayan where public storm warning signal number 3 was raised yesterday due to Tropical Storm Vinta.

Yesterday, the Comelec was supposed to hold elections in seven barangays in Calayan Island.

The Oct. 28 poll there was suspended after the Philippine Coast Guard refused to give clearance to sea travel due to bad weather, thus preventing the delivery of election paraphernalia on time.

The poll body was also supposed to conduct the polls in one barangay in Balo-I, Lanao del Norte; six in Akbar, Ungkaya Pukan, and Tabuan Lasa in Basilan; and 12 in Buldon, Liong, and Parang in Maguindanao.

Brillantes added he was still waiting for the reports of field officials in these areas.

Meanwhile, police arrested 28 violators of the election gun ban and confiscated 28 firearms in Pangasinan, according to provincial police director Senior Superintendent Marlou Chan.

Chan told local newsmen yesterday in the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas forum that 13 persons were also arrested for violating the liquor ban while three others were caught for vote-buying, including a balut vendor who distributed boiled duck eggs to voters who presented one green stub allegedly supplied by a local candidate for barangay chairman in Barangay Asin West in Malasiqui town.

The police had filed appropriate charges against the suspects, Chan said.

Chan said the barangay elections in Pangasinan were very peaceful, similar to the polls last May.

Chan reminded the public that the poll gun ban is in effect until Nov. 12.

Caraga PNP regional director Chief Supt. Getulio Nape claimed that conduct of elections in the region was generally peaceful amidst some reports of election-related violence in some areas in the region.

Two persons were killed, including an alleged armed supporter of a candidate for barangay chairman, while two others were injured after an encounter with government troopers on the day of the election in Rosario, Agusan del Sur.

A bet for barangay councilman was also hacked to death last Monday in Barangay Albor, Libjo, Dinagat Islands.

In Alegria, Surigao del Norte, the house of re-electionist barangay chairman Levy Romay of Barangay Ferlda in Alegria, Surigao del Norte was fired upon by still unidentified gunmen. Police said Romay was not in his house and was not hurt.

Nape said the few violent incidents were isolated cases.

Members of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCV) in Caraga, however, claimed that the recent barangay elections were marred by vote buying in many areas in the region.

Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. proposed the abolition of barangay elections that have become “divisive, very expensive, and counterproductive.”

He said last Monday’s polls were supposed to be non-partisan but some mayors and congressmen reportedly meddled in the elections.

He said the village elections have also become very expensive. – With Sheila Crisostomo, Eva Visperas, Ben Serrano, Danny Dangcalan