EDITORIAL - Killing season

Election season is also killing season in this country. Two days before the official start of the campaign period, a grenade was lobbed at the home of a councilor in Isabela. Three motorcycles and a van were destroyed, but all the residents were fortunate to escape injury. Councilor Lanie Uy, who is running for mayor of Jones town, said she had received death threats by text before the attack.

It is a violent town. Last year, Uy’s ally, vice mayor Florante Raspado, was shot dead as he presided over a session of the city council. Uy’s bodyguard was also killed.

In Zamboanga City last Sunday morning, a gunman on a motorcycle opened fire on Mayor Jasper Que of Bongao, Tawi-Tawi as he drove with two bodyguards. Que survived gunshots to the arm, leg and buttocks. He’s not up for election, but a relative is seeking to succeed him.

All over the country, numerous towns and cities have been declared as election hot spots and placed on a watch list of the Philippine National Police. It’s not clear what the impact is of being declared a hot spot. Security is supposed to be ramped up in these areas, but in previous elections, the hot spots remained hotbeds of violence.

Why people would readily kill for a three-year job with modest pay is anybody’s guess. Even candidates in areas with only 4,000 votes at stake have resorted to murder. Election violence gives Philippine democracy a bad name; the recent elections in Myanmar were much more peaceful.

Major political parties must lead by example, by dissuading their members from resorting to violence. If the parties can’t perform this role, law enforcers must make sure they can do more than draw up watch lists. Killers must be caught – hired guns and masterminds alike – and punishment rendered, including perpetual disqualification from public office. The only way to stop this violence is to show that perpetrators cannot get away with their crime.