Rising election- related slays

BEHIND THE SCENES

Alfred P. Dizon

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet -- This, early, election-related murders are rising, according to police statistics. The solution of the recent murder of mayor Alexander Buquing of Sudipen, La Union and his wife, vice mayor Wendy Joy Buquing, in an ambush last Oct. 1 is now reportedly one of top priorities of Philippine National Police Director General Oscar Albayalde.

The PNP’s top honcho visited Camp Dangwa, the Cordillera regional police headquarters in this capital town  Friday on occasion of the 117th PNP service anniversary wherein he was guest of honor and speaker.

Anyhow, the ambushed couple’s driver Boni Depdepen and Police Officer 2 Rolando Juanbe, 42, were also killed in the attack along Bangar-Castro provincial road in Bangar, La Union.

The mayor’s killing is another statistic on number of officials running for the midterm polls next year. 

At least 11 mayors and six vice mayors were killed the past two years, according to police records.

Albayalde has reportedly started creation of special operations task groups to monitor developments in 7,926 barangays and 896 municipalities identified as areas of concern.

This prompted the PNP leadership to order all regional directors to start election security preparations, including offensives against criminal syndicates.

The PNP leadership earlier tagged almost 8,000 barangays as potential election hotspots for next year’s elections.

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The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao was pinpointed as having the most number of election hotspots, followed by Eastern and Central Visayas.

Albayalde told media, task groups would be headed by chiefs of the Directorate for Integrated Police Operations in Northern Luzon, Southern Luzon, Visayas, Western Mindanao and Eastern Mindanao.

 “What we intend to do here is we will have a Special Operations Task Group not only during the conduct of elections but as early as now to address election issues especially harassment, violent incidents and killings like what happened in La Union.”

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Albayalde, referring to the murder of mayor Buquing, has ordered police regional directors to closely monitor their areas for election-related concerns.

On the task groups, Albayalde said DIPO chiefs are in the best position to head the group. As part of security preparations for the  elections on May 13, 2019, Deputy Director General Archie Gamboa, deputy chief for operations and concurrent chairman of the oversight committee, would reportedly be evaluating the performance of the different commanders on the ground.

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With the filing of certificates of candidacy (COCs) Thursday, two officials of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said they were against their priests running for any government position.

CBCP-Episcopal Commission on the Clergy chairman San Pablo, Laguna Bishop Buenaventura Famadico and CBCP-Episcopal Commission on Migrants and Itinerant People (ECMI) Bataan Bishop Ruperto Santos both said they were against priests vying for elective posts.

While he has not heard of any priest who has plans of running in the election, Famadico reminded those who are planning to run that their job is to “spread the word of God and to guide the faithful.”

If priests run for an elective position, he said he interprets it as an indication that “we have failed in our task if we have to take over the role of the laity,” Famadico added. 

Santos said he does not favor priests crossing the line and running for a government position. “I am definitely against it, and never will I allow any of my priests to run for any elective office,” said Santos.

He reminded clergymen of Jesus Christ’s teaching that they cannot serve two masters.

Meanwhile, the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) also last week backed the Commission on Elections decision to include “disqualification” question in the COC for those running in the 2019 elections.

LENTE executive director Rona Caritos said there is no reason for candidates for senator and local positions to hesitate in answering the question if they have had a history of facing a legal case with perpetual disqualification penalty.

“For us, it is valid as this is just a question which expounds on the statement of the candidate in his COC as to his eligibility for the office he is running for,” Caritos said.

Former Comelec chair and top election lawyer Sixto Brillantes previously questioned the Comelec’s move to include the question in the COC, which he said can lead to automatic disqualification of candidates who will indicate an affirmative answer.