Ex-councilor Mindanao’s first poll-related murder victim?

BUTUAN CITY, Philippines – A retired police officer and former councilor who was seeking to regain his seat in the May elections was shot dead by two motorcycle-riding men in Placer, Surigao del Norte on Monday.

Authorities said Danrevel Etac, 62, could be the first victim of election-related violence in Mindanao as the killing occurred on the second day of the election period, which started on Sunday.

Etac was headed home on a motorcycle when he was shot by the assailants who were believed to have been tailing him in Barangay San Isidro.

Etac was a former councilor of nearby Taganaan town.

Placer police chief investigator Senior Police Officer 2 Alan Badajos said Etac died at the scene from four bullet wounds in the body.

Badajos said the assailants used a .45 caliber pistol in the killing and fled toward Sison town.

Police have yet to confirm if the killing was politically motivated. It said Taganaan has always been considered an election hotspot.