20 killed, 13 wounded in 30 ERVI’s so far, says PNP

By Ronron
October 28, 2007

The Philippine National Police (PNP) has recorded 30 election-related violent incidents (ERVI’s) so far in relation to the October 29 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls, resulting in the deaths of 20 people and the wounding of 13 others, a report disclosed Sunday.

The incidents cover the period September 29, the start of the election season, until October 27, or two days before the village and youth polls, based on the report released by Sr. Supt. Jose Gentiles of the PNP Directorate for Operations.

Twenty-five of the ERVI’s are shooting incidents, two are ambush, two are harassment and one was perpetrated by suspected members of the New People’s Army (NPA), the report showed.

Geographically, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has the most number of incidents, with six; followed by Regions 1 and 6, with four each; Regions 3, 5, 7, 10, 13 and the Cordillera Administrative Region, with two each; and Regions 4-A, 8, 9, and 12, with one each.

No ERVI’s were so far recorded in Regions 2, 4-B, 11, and the National Capital Region (NCR), the report showed.

Of the fatalities, five are barangay chairman candidates, two are barangay councilor candidates, four are incumbent barangay officials, three are government officials and six are civilians.

The wounded victims, on the other hand, include two barangay chairman candidates, one barangay councilor candidate, five incumbent barangay officials, and six civilians.

Gentiles, speaking on DZBB radio yesterday morning, pointed out that the figures are way below the 159 incidents recorded in the 2002 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls. PNP data showed that 75 people were killed and 69 others were injured during the previous local elections.

Aside from violence, the PNP is also focused on apprehending gun ban and liquor ban violators.

The gun ban took effect during the start of the election period last September 29, while the liquor ban began midnight of Saturday. The former will expire at the end of the election period on November 13, while the latter will be lifted midnight of Monday.

“Our Election Monitoring Action Center is monitoring so that we can respond to the situation that develops in the different places during the conduct of our elections,” PNP chief Gen. Avelino Razon, Jr. said in a separate radio interview yesterday noon.

Based on historical data, the PNP tagged around 4,355 villages all over the country, or about 10.3 percent of all barangays, as areas of election concern due to possible influence by the NPA.

The PNP and Armed Forces had already raised their alert to the highest levels in preparation for the elections.

The Commission on Elections had said that voting will start at 7am Monday and end at 3pm, after which counting and canvassing will commence./DMS