Editorial - The violence will continue

As the filing of candidacy kicked off for the synchronized barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections on October 25, authorities are now beginning to assess whether there are areas in Central Visayas that need to be declared as hotspots for election-related violence.

So far, at least three areas in Cebu are likely to be declared under Commission on Elections watch because of poll violence in the past. These areas are the city of Bogo and the towns of Cordova and Tabuelan.

But police Regional Intelligence Division chief Patrocinio Comendador said they have yet to determine how many barangays would need to be declared as election hotspots in each area. The final list, he said, will come from the Cebu Provincial Police Office.

 The police authorities should be given credit for acting early in their campaign to prevent any election-related violence. They must have learned a lesson from their past mistakes.

Although there has been no report yet of any election violence in the province, the police are not taking things lightly as they wanted to show to the world that electoral exercises in the country can be held without a single drop of blood.

However, as the election draws nearer, untoward incidents are bound to happen. Politically-motivated attacks would always dominate the headlines. And the police are helpless to prevent them.

As past experiences would tell us, many candidates chose to take up arms as last resort in order to win. This makes every election in this country a very dangerous undertaking by the government. Dangerous in the sense that it has been an ordinary experience for us to count the dead as rival candidates across the country are killing each other.

The intense heat of political rivalry can never subside unless warring candidates can learn to play by the rules. Election-related violence will continue to rear its ugly head until every candidate will learn how to respect the sanctity of the electoral process.