Slay try on poll officer in Nueva Ecija condemned

GAPAN CITY, Nueva Ecija -- The Commission on Elections Employees' Union on Monday condemned the recent attempted assassination of an acting poll officer in Nueva Ecija. 

The Comelec-EU scored the slay-try on lawyer Arsenio Reyes Jr., Gapan acting election officer, last Aug. 23 by gunmen here.

Reports said  Reyes was driving his vehicle around 2 p.m. August 23 when two men on board a motorcycle appeared from behind and fired several shots at Reyes. 

The victim was hit twice in the body but managed to survive the attack, reports added. 

"The Comelec-EU strongly condemns the attempted killing of election officer Reyes in Nueva Ecija. We call on the authorities to swiftly bring the perpetrators of this cowardly act to justice," ,"Comelec-EU national president Mac Ramirez said. 

Ramirez said the latest incident of violence against poll officials and employees should prompt the Comelec  leadership to institute additional safeguard measures.

"We reiterate that the dangers faced by Comelec employees in the frontlines are real. We maintain thus that our long standing call for wage increase and the grant of hazard pay are justified," he added.

The election officer was wounded when motorcycle-riding men ambushed him along the national highway that afternoon.

Reyes sustained a gunshot wound in the left thigh but was pronounced out of danger in an undisclosed hospital in Cabanatuan City.

His companion, Boy Manuel, escaped unhurt.Reyes had just come from the Comelec office at the Gapan City Hall compound and was driving his car on his way to Cabanatuan City when he was fired at along the Maharlika Highway in Barangay Castellano here.

Reyes said he and Manuel initially thought the sound had come from a bottle that exploded. “Then I noticed there were two men who were shooting at us,” he said.

Reyes stopped his car at the right shoulder of the road and ducked for cover.

The gunmen overtook them, shot his car’s front door, and then fled.