37 Days to E-Day: Assassins go wild as campaign heats up

As if to taunt the police and military that their sponsored peace covenants inked by rival politicians are just pieces of paper, assassins’ bullets felled another candidate, this time a gubernatorial bet in Kalinga province. Earlier in the month, suspected armed goons killed Quezon congressional bet Vicente Rabaya in Quezon City in a case that even drew the attention of Palace officials, who seemed to be wondering if the police are really on their toes in maintaining law and order. In Kalinga Saturday or 37 Days to Election Day, Gubernatorial bet Rommel Diasen died in a hospital at 2 p.m. after gunmen ambushed him 30 minutes earlier while en route to Magnao village, in Tabuk, Kalinga. Investigators said Diasen, former Tabuk mayor, was gunned down at close range while he was talking to his supporters on his way to a campaign sortie. He sustained six gunshot wounds. Diasen is running against Kalinga Rep. Laurence Wacnang and lawyer Warren Luyaben. Diasen is under the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrat while Wacnang is under the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino. The two parties are under the administration coalition Team Unity. Luyaben, president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines-Kalinga chapter, is running as an independent. Chief Supt. Raul Gonzales, Cordillera police director, said that they are looking into "politics as one possible motive" in the killing of Diasen. Senior Supt. Joseph Adnol, Cordillera police spokesperson, said the crime could have also stemmed from a conflict among tribes of the Mt. Province. The police said Diasen is from the Magnao tribe. Diasen and former Kalinga Regional Trial Court judge Milnar Lammawin, who was ambushed two years ago, come from the same tribe. Adnol said authorities earlier blamed Lammawin's death to members of other tribes in the province. The police immediately organized Task Force Diasen, composed of Kalinga Police Provincial Office, the Regional Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, and the local unit of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the province. "They will conduct further investigation for the possible identification and arrest of the suspects at the soonest possible time," Adnol said of the task force. Shariff Kabunsuan grenade attack Meanwhile, unknown men failed to kill a village chief in Parang town in Shariff Kabunsuan province on Saturday even after they hurled a grenade at the official’s house. But the grenade, hurled at the compound of Poblacion 1 village chief Allan Lim around 7 pm, damaged the official's vehicle, police said. At least four poll-related attacks have been recorded in the ARMM since the election season started, including the grenade-attack on the house of an election official in Marawi City but no one was injured. Policemen are closely watching political feuds and non-political conflicts in ARMM because these could disrupt the conduct of the elections. On April 2, a family feud flared anew in Pandag town in Maguindanao but no one was injured when the adversaries clashed. ARMM that covers the provinces of Maguindanao, Shariff Kabunsuan, Lanao Del Sur, Sulu, Basilan, Tawi-tawi and Marawi City, is listed as among the police's immediate areas of concern in the May 14 elections. Kampi supporter tagged in Masbate ambush A supporter of a Masbate mayoral bet belonging to the party founded by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was tagged Saturday as the suspect in the killing of two supporters of a rival candidate Thursday, a police official said. This developed as police officially listed the ambush as an election-related violent incident (EVRI). Senior Supt. Cecilio Calleja, Jr., deputy regional director for Operation of the Region V Police, said the fatalities were confirmed supporters of an independent mayoral candidate in Batuan town while the gunman belonged to the camp of a rival candidate. Manuel Ramiso and Raymund Persia were ambushed by a certain Alfredo Yuson around 4:30 pm Thursday in Barangay Poblacion, Batuan town. A third victim, Carlo Aligada, was wounded and was rushed to hospital. Recovered from the crime scene were 22 empty shells of an M-16 rifle. "Please be informed that follow up investigation conducted by Batuan Municipal Police Station disclosed that [the ambush] was an EVRI," Calleja said in his report to Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Dir. Gen. Oscar Calderon. Calleja said the victims were identified as supporters of mayoral candidate Lily Villanueva Alforte in Batuan. Yuson supports mayoral candidate Charlie Deroma Yuson III of Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi), he said. The PNP's National Task Force HOPE (Honest, Orderly and Peaceful Elections) has earlier recommended putting Masbate province under the control of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on the May 14 election. The recommendation was made after NTF commander Deputy Director Gen. Antonio Billones, the Deputy Chief PNP for operations, flew to Masbate Tuesday to personally supervise the conduct of dialogues between rival politicians for the forging of a peace covenant. Cop linked to poll exec slay Police in Palawan on Saturday said they have charged a policeman with the killing last Tuesday night of an election officer in Puerto Princesa City. Chief Supt. Napoleon Cachuela, chief of the Region IV-B (Mimaropa) Police, said PO1 Alfredo Carandang was positively identified by at least two witnesses whose statements were corroborated by two others. The witnesses picked Carandang in a police line-up, Cachuela said. The victim, Puerto Princesa City Assistant Election Officer Petronilo Amorin Jr, was shot four times at around 7:15 pm on April 3 at the Puerto Princesa City Coliseum in Barangay (village) San Pedro. Carandang has been placed under the custody of the Palawan Police Provincial Office while waiting the preliminary investigation of his case, Cachuela said Carandang is a member of the 413rd Provincial Mobile Group (PMG) based in Culanga, Taytay, Palawan. "With the identification of the gunman, we can consider this (case) as solved already," said Supt. Reynaldo Jagmis, spokesman of the Special Investigation Task Group "Amorin." Police said the motive behind the killing could be work-related or personal. - GMANews.TV