5 killed, 7 wounded in day before elections

Five people were shot dead and at least seven were wounded Sunday as political tensions flared a day ahead of the national elections.

In Antique, three supporters of a mayoral candidate were killed and six others were wounded in an alleged shootout with policemen at a checkpoint in Tibiao town before dawn.

Chief Supt. Isagani Cuevas, Western Visayas police director, said the fatalities were among 15 suspected armed men riding in two vehicles that ran through a police checkpoint along the national highway in the Tibiao town proper, around 75 kilometers north of the capital town of San Jose.

Police claimed they were fired upon by the men in the vehicles, prompting a gunbattle.

But the families of the casualties claimed the police had blocked the road with an unmarked vehicle at 3 a.m. and fired on their relatives without provocation.

Those who died of multiple gunshot wounds were identified as Efraim Pagharion, 62; Rogelio Pagsuguiron and Edgar Magtulis, all residents of Tibiao.

The wounded were identified as Edward Luceno, Arnulfo Migue, Andersito Bandoja, Frederico Eraga Jr., Peruno Leandro and Eliazar Pagsuguiron.

There was no report of casualties or wounded on the side of the policemen.

Six other passengers were unharmed, including Clement Bandoja, the son of Tibiao town councilor Gil Bandoja, one of four mayoral candidates of the town.

Bandoja, who said he was at home when he was awakened by the gunfire, said the casualties were all his supporters and were unarmed.

“My son, who was driving the Nissan Frontier, said they did not see a checkpoint. All they saw was a vehicle blocking the highway which made them suspicious. When they slowed down, they were fired upon by armed persons,” Bandoja told the Inquirer in a telephone interview.

The police said they recovered four .45-cal. handguns and a grenade from one of the vehicles.

Nonetheless, Cuevas ordered an investigation of the incident and has temporarily relieved the three policemen involved.

In Davao del Sur, two bodyguards of Malalag town reelectionist Mayor Ruel Paras were killed shortly after midnight in a shootout in Barangay Bulacan with security forces of a rival candidate, former Mayor Givel Montejo.

SPO2 Wendel Avila identified those killed as Gilbert Magallanes, 34; and James Salmorin, 55, a retired Marine. Another person was injured in the incident, Avila said.

Avila said Montejo claimed that she and her escorts, Cpl. Eddie Aquino and Pfc. Ireneo Losada of the 39th Infantry Battalion, were on their way to a village to check on reports that her supporters were being harassed when they met motorcycle-riding men who fired at them.

“We are still investigating who fired the first shot,” Avila said, adding that the incident was “clearly election-related.”

Davao del Sur has been placed under the control of the Commission on Elections.

Meanwhile, in Camarines Sur, a mayoral candidate and his two police escorts in Bula town survived an ambush attempt by motorcycle-riding men.

Candidate Homer Cleofas Razado, 42, told police he and his security officers—SPO2 Diego Magpantay and Nestor Villegas, 53—were driving home after wrapping up his campaign at dawn Sunday when they were attacked by the armed men. They escaped unhurt.