Even as Ebdane spoke, six people were killed in Isabela, Cagayan and a vice mayoralty candidate in Ilocos Sur was shot in the arm in the latest incidents of poll-related violence as campaigning for local posts kicked off yesterday.
Barangay chairman Rosmili Baccay, her husband Nestor and a companion, identified as Juancho Pacla were killed when masked gunmen waylaid a minibus near the town of Cabagan in Isabela, the military said.
Three other passengers — Jaimie Tallog, Imelda de los Santos and Danding Buraga — were also killed, while seven others were wounded in the attack. Tallog was a member of the Citizens’ Auxiliary Force Geographical Unit (CAFGU).
The wounded were rushed to the Milagros District Hospital and the Cagayan Valley Medical Center in Tuguegarao. The Baccays and four others were declared dead on arrival.
Witnesses said at least 10 masked men armed with M-16 and M-14 assault rifles and caliber .45 pistols attacked the minibus. Crime scene investigators recovered several M-16 shells.
Cagayan Valley police director Chief Superintendent Jefferson Soriano ruled out politics as a motive for the Baccay killings, adding that the ambush site is considered a peaceful barangay.
Instead, he blamed the attack on the communist New People’s Army’s so-called Asuncion-Filomena Command, saying, "We have strong reason to believe that the NPA was behind this latest act of atrocity... They took away one of the slain victims’ caliber .45 pistol and M-16 rifle."
All the victims "sustained multiple bullet wounds," he said. "(The suspects) even used (Nestor) Baccay’s caliber .45 in killing him."
Soriano said the barangay chairman could have earned the NPA’s ire because she had been helping the CAFGU members in the area.
"Politicians in Isabela will never go to that level and politicians here are cordial to each other," Soriano said in ruling out politics as a motive.
Cabangan police chief Senior Inspector Renato Mallonga said darkness and the distance of the ambush site prevented local police from immediately pursuing the suspects.
Soriano has ordered the provincial police to coordinate with the Army in pursuing the suspects, who are believed to have fled toward the Sierra Madre mountains.
In Delfin Albano town, also in Isabela, Jonathan Tamayo of Barangay San Macario, was shot in the head with a Garand rifle as he was posting campaign materials of independent presidential candidate Sen. Panfilo Lacson, police reported.
In Ilocos Sur, Santa Maria town Vice Mayor Romeo Tan was wounded when he was ambushed by unidentified gunmen just before he and other candidates for local posts in the town were to sign a peace covenant.
Tan, 44, said, "I just came from the rest room when two men approached me and asked if I was the vice mayor. I took that as a cue and ran as fast as I could."
He was shot in the right arm and leg with a caliber .45 pistol at 5:30 a.m. yesterday, as he and other political candidates in the town were on their way to the signing of a peace covenant at the Sta. Maria church. Nine caliber .45 shells were recovered from the ambush site.
Mayoral candidate Ellen Cabato, who arrived last, said she saw a "stainless" jeep with two men aboard leaving the church compound.
Town Mayor Edgar Florendo and mayoral candidate Ponciano Reyes Jr. did not attend the covenant-signing. In a radio interview, Florendo said he and Reyes were late for the meeting and were about to go to the church when they received news of the shooting.
Tan is confined at the Holy Family Hospital in Candon City, where he was visited by former Ilocos Sur governor Luis "Chavit" Singson.
"I see no other motive (for the ambush) other than political," Tan said. He is an ally of Singson.
Singson has asked the local politicians not to go into vendetta killing.
Investigators said the attacks could be politically motivated.
Military authorities earlier said that, since the campaigning began in February, about 12 "violent incidents" involving local politicians have been recorded, including six deaths.
President Arroyo last week ordered a crackdown on so-called private armies maintained by politicians and local warlords.
Ebdane placed the entire PNP force on heightened alert last week to head off further violence — even as the PNP has been on high alert since Dec. 15.
He said the PNP’s field commanders "are given the flexibility to declare a higher alert (status)," adding that congressional, gubernatorial and mayoral candidates could apply for additional police security.
Ebdane said the PNP has shifted to the second phase of its readiness and security preparedness for the May 10 elections. The third phase takes place on election day itself.
"We have activated our second phase of contingency, where there will be intensified checkpoints and chokepoints... to prevent any unnecessary, unauthorized carrying of firearms because this actually promotes violence," he said.
He has directed all regional and local police commanders to be extra vigilant, saying "we really have to prepare for it. We have been through this for a number of years and the trend really is that, as we approach the elections, we need to be more vigilant because there is a tendency that more violent incidents happen."
With this reminder, Ebdane also reiterated his warning to all town police chiefs and ground commanders in the country’s city and municipal commands that they are to abstain from partisan politics.
"If there are police chiefs who seem to be subservient to the local executive, who happens to be a candidate... then he has to watch out," Ebdane said. "We may have to recommend his relief to the Commission on Elections (Comelec)."
He also asked the PNP’s newly appointed one-star generals to be more "responsive than reactive" in the dispatch of their duties. "Focus on how to react in a situation instead of being responsive to the conditions."
Police Security and Protection Office head Chief Superintendent Rolando Sacramento said 50 local government officials, most of them seeking congressional seats, have sought additional police protection, adding that the security for mayoralty, vice-mayoralty and provincial, municipal and city council candidates is handled by the local police offices.
Sacramento said the PNP will provide only two police officers for each candidate and requests are thoroughly processed after the PNP conducts its threat assessments.
Sen. Robert Barbers, who is seeking re-election on the administration Koalisyon ng Katapatan at Karanasan sa Kinabukasan (K-4) ticket, has asked for two additional security personnel to augment his own team of security personnel.
Sacramento said the PNP has approved Barbers’ request and added that it is justified because the senator from Surigao travels from one region to another for his campaign sorties. "We have long assessed the threat," he said.
Sacramento said his office has also granted Sen. Robert Jaworski’s request to replace one of his two bodyguards.
Sen. Noli de Castro, who is running for vice president under the K-4 banner, has also been assigned a security detail by the PNP, while opposition vice-presidential candidate Sen. Loren Legarda has sought the protection of the Philippine Marines, Sacramento said.
Over 17,000 local posts are up for grabs in the May elections, when voters will also choose the next president. There are an estimated 53,000 candidates aspiring for local elective posts nationwide. — With reports from Artemio Dumlao, Andy Zapata, Myds Supnad, Charlie Lagasca, Lito Salatan, AFP