Comelec execs due for execution?

Employees at the Commission on Elections are walking around in fear due to a rumor that a Comelec official or lawyer will be killed to force the poll body to decide soon on the electoral protests involving the gubernatorial polls in Shariff Kabunsuan last May.

A Comelec insider told The STAR that they could not identify the source of the rumor, which circulated after legal department head Wynne Asdala was gunned down two weeks ago.

Asdala was killed four months after his predecessor, Alioden Dalaig, was shot dead near the Hyatt Hotel in Ermita, Manila. Both killings remain unsolved.

No one has replaced Asdala. Lawyer Josslyn de Mesa, who also served as acting head of the legal department following Dalaig’s death, went on leave right after Asdala was gunned down.

De Mesa, who served as chairman of the special provincial board of canvassers for Maguindanao, went home upon hearing of Asdala’s murder, apparently in fear for her life.

A source said that based on the rumor, the killings will continue until the Comelec resolves the electoral protests filed against each other by Shariff Kabunsuan gubernatorial candidates Datu Bimbo Sinsuat Jr. and Datu Tucao Mastura.

 Whoever is declared the winner will become the first elected governor of the province, which was part of Maguindanao until two years ago.

Sinsuat’s case covers the towns of Parang and Sultan Mastura while Mastura’s petition involves the towns of Datu Odin Sinsuat and Datu Blah Sinsuat.

Another insider said supporters of the two candidates have been roaming around the Comelec headquarters, probably looking for “allies” in the poll body.

The Comelec had earlier ordered the re-canvassing of votes in the contested towns in Shariff. It is expected to issue a resolution declaring the winner today.

Asked why legal department officials were the ones being killed when the case is already at the en banc level, the source said legal counsels from the department act as members of the provincial board of canvassers.

“We hope that this will be over soon. We hope the killings will stop,” the insider said.