LTO-7 chief rapped for "overstaying"

MANILA (AP) - Philippine police filed a murder case Wednesday against a police inspector and seven other suspects accused of setting fire to a school used as a voting center in last week's elections, killing three people trapped inside.

The gruesome killings, a day after the May 14 midterm polls, are among more than 40 deaths attributed by police to election violence.

During a lineup of suspects Monday, a witness identified Inspector Roberto Marinda as one of the armed men who barged into the voting center at the Taysan elementary school in Batangas province, fired their guns, poured gasoline on ballot boxes and set the building on fire, said Geary Barias, head of the national police's investigation directorate.

"There is a positive identification here, enough to file a case against Marinda and the other suspects," he said. The additional suspects were not identified, and Marinda has denied the accusation.

Barias said investigators were looking into the possible involvement of a defeated mayoral candidate. He said they were checking reports that the suspects stayed in the candidate's house before the elections.

The victims included a teacher and a poll watcher who were trapped inside the burning school. A driver succumbed to severe burns on Monday, police said.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who has described the elections as "good, peaceful, free and fair" despite the violence, last week visited the torched school, which was renamed to honor the slain teacher.

Police had reported about 130 people were killed in intense electoral rivalries during the four-month campaign, but last week abruptly lowered the death toll, saying only 41 deaths were found to be politically motivated. They did not elaborate.