6 hurt in Maguindanao COC filing commotion

MANILA, Philippines — Six were hurt as two groups traded shots and threw stones at each other in a clash on Tuesday, October 8, triggered by an attempt by an individual who has pending criminal cases in courts to file candidacy for vice mayor of Shariff Aguak in Maguindanao del Sur, the police reported.

Officials of the Shariff Aguak Municipal Police Station, the Maguindanao del Sur Provincial Police Office and local executives told reporters on Tuesday afternoon that the incident erupted after the municipal office of the Commission on Elections failed to process the candidacy of a Maguindanaon who only showed a certificate of nomination and acceptance from a political party. The latter cannot be used as basis for filing of a certificate of candidacy.

The wanted person was reportedly invited first for identity verification by the local police and was eventually allowed to file a COC, but failed owing to his lack of requisite documents, sparking trouble at the entrance to the Shariff Aguak municipal government compound.

Personnel of the Shariff Aguak Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office and responding investigators from the local police force had confirmed that three residents of Shariff Aguak were hurt in the exchanges of gunfire that also left three, from among the persons who provoked the trouble, wounded.