Comelec officer in Palawan killed; Another election officer in Marawi City threatened

By Ronron
April 4, 2007

A Commission on Elections (Comelec) officer in Palawan province was killed on Tuesday night in Puerto Princesa City by unidentified suspects, police said.

Reports reaching Camp Crame identified the victim as Petronilo Amorin, Jr., 40, resident of Narra town, same province, an assistant city election officer of Puerto Princesa City.

Amorin was shot dead along the national highway in front of the Puerto Princesa City Coliseum in Barangay San Pedro at around 7:15 pm by two male suspects.

The gunman allegedly approached him first before opening fire at close range. Amorin at that time had just taken dinner after finishing his work at the Comelec office which is located only a few meters away.

Amorin sustained four gunshot wounds – two in the head, one in the stomach, and one on the leg, caused by a caliber 45 pistol.

The gunman immediately escaped together with his accomplice who was waiting aboard a yellow Honda motorcycle.

A witness to the crime described the suspected gunman to be at least 40 years old, 5’4” to 5’6” tall, slim built, with curly hair, wearing maong pants and light blue t-shirt with collar.

Police is still investigating the motive of the incident, which could be work-related or personal in nature.

“Right now, we have formed a special investigating task group comprised by different agencies to speed up the resolution of the case… We are pursuing two leads, which are, maybe political or personal,” Palawan Police Provincial Director Sr. Supt. Dennis Peña said in a phone interview.

He said a witness has given a statement that indeed, there was a threat against Amorin prior to the incident, which is personal in nature.

The possible political motive, said Peña, stemmed from the fact that he works for the Comelec.

Peña said he heads the task group, which has representatives from the National Bureau of Investigation, the City Prosecutor’s Office, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, the Crime Laboratory, and the Traffic Management Group.

“This is an isolated case, not enough to declare the city as an area of immediate concern this coming elections. And there is no historical basis for that. We don’t even know yet if this is election-related,” Peña said.

In Marawi City, Lanao del Sur province, an election officer was threatened by an unknown suspect by bombing her residence before dawn of Tuesday.

According to a police report, a hand grenade was lobbed outside the compound of election officer Diana Titiban, 52, at around 12:25 am the other day (Tuesday) at Barangay Panggao, Saduc District, Marawi City.

No one was hurt in the incident.

“Initial investigation disclosed that the election officer was busy preparing the election data at her room when she heard the explosion,” the police report said.

Responding policemen found later at the site another hand grenade that did not explode. It was safely detonated.

Police security was immediately provided to Titiban.

The motive for the blast is also still being investigated./DMS