2 Isabela towns tagged as hotspots in village polls

ILAGAN CITY , Philippines   â€“ Two interior towns in Isabela have been identified as areas of concern in connection with the forthcoming barangay elections, according to the provincial police.

Senior Superintendent Sotero Ramos Jr., Isabela police director, said there is a need to declare the towns of San Guillermo and Angadanan, both in the province’s third district, as areas of concern to prevent any untoward incidents during the village polls.

Two barangay chairmen, Arnold Pastor and Rosendo Seguismundo, who were recently killed, hailed from the two towns. 

Segismundo, 52, of San Guillermo’s Anonang village, was shot dead by still unidentified men on Sept. 24. He was with his sister-in-law onboard a rented tricycle to deliver bananas when they were waylaid in Barangay Calaccab, Angadanan town. 

Pastor, 47, of Alicia town’s Barangay Loria, was gunned down on Sept. 4. His wife, Leilanie, 45, who was with him onboard their Toyota Hilux, was also killed in the incident.

Pastor was also a member of the municipal council, being the president of the town’s Liga ng mga Barangay.

The twin killings prompted the provincial police to relieve Chief Inspector Salvador Mangulab as Angadanan police chief immediately after Segismundo’s slay.

Ramos said they are also assessing if there is also a need to declare other villages in the province as areas of concern following reported sightings of communist rebels who are collecting so-called “campaign fees.”

Ramos, however, assured communities that the police, together with the military, are more than prepared to thwart attempts by communist rebels or any outlawed groups to disrupt the upcoming barangay polls. 

Earlier, the police and the Isabela-based Army’s 5th Infantry Division, along with election officers and local and barangay officials, staged a unity walk and a prayer rally in this capital city for the peaceful conduct of the elections.

“We want to show that we abhor violence and that lawless elements have no place here… that every sector in the province wants to have secure and fair elections,” Ramos said.