EDITORIAL - Killing to win

As of yesterday, four more murders related to the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections were reported. Three of the victims, two of them running for barangay councilor, were shot dead on Monday night in Cotabato City while two others were hurt. The fourth victim, who was running for village captain, was killed in an ambush in Davao de Oro.

Police said the victims in the Cotabato City attack were putting up campaign posters in Barangay Rosary Heights 12 when several men opened fire with pistols and an M16 rifle. Candidates Nur-Moqtadin Butucan and Alfar Singh Ayunan along with resident Faisal Abas were rushed to a hospital where they were pronounced dead.

Twelve suspects were caught in nearby houses by pursuing police teams backed by Marines. Police identified the ringleader as Juhalidin Abdul, 40, who is running for barangay captain in Rosary Heights 12. Also arrested was a policeman, M/Sgt. Pauti Mamalapat.

In Davao de Oro, barangay councilman Alvin Garcia and a woman were on a motorcycle in Montevista town on Monday morning when two persons on another motorcycle pulled up. The back rider fatally shot Garcia in the head and wounded the woman. Garcia, 31, was running for barangay captain. While probers are eyeing a personal grudge as the motive, the attack showed the weakness of the election gun ban.

Security measures are also supposed to have been tightened and more police and military personnel deployed for peacekeeping particularly in violence-prone areas such as the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, which includes Cotabato City. Yet reports said the shooting rampage last Monday that killed the three victims went on for several minutes.

At least suspects in the Cotabato attack were arrested. As an additional deterrent, the Commission on Elections must ensure that any candidate who stands to benefit from the murders is quickly disqualified.

The attacks again make people wonder what’s at stake in the BSKE that would drive people to commit murder to eliminate the competition. Since the start of the election period on Aug. 28, authorities have recorded 22 election-related violent incidents, including the murder of candidates in Pangasinan, Masbate and Maguindanao.

But then the violence is not new. In 2009, the Ampatuans, backed by their private armed goons, massacred 58 people simply because someone dared to challenge one of the clan members in the race for governor of Maguindanao. Such atrocious subversion of the voters’ will is perpetrated by those who believe they can get away with murder. This mindset can be dispelled only if murderers and their political patrons are caught and punished, and effective measures are in place to prevent further violence.