‘Political rivalries, Reds threaten 2010 polls in Caraga’

Intense rivalries among local politicians and alleged extortion activities by the communist Nationalist People’s Army (NPA) pose as major threats to the conduct of peaceful elections in northeast Mindanao, a police officer in the region said on Saturday. Senior Supt. Nestor Monton Fajura of the Philippine National Police (PNP)-Caraga Regional Office said warring political groups and the NPA’s permit-to-campaign scheme could cause election-related violence in the region, which compises the provinces of Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur, the cities of Butuan, Surigao and Bislig, and Dinagat Islands. “The NPA’s permit to campaign had raised millions of pesos in the 2001, 2004 and 2007 elections and intelligence reports claimed it is now slowly coming back", Fajura said. The police officer cited cases in past elections wherein politicians, especially from the administration party, get harassed by suspected members of the NPA in an attempt to get funds through the so-called permit-to-campaign fees. Fajura also noted how “heavily armed men wearing military uniforms" believed to be working for certain political groups have stormed various election precincts in Caraga to steal ballot boxes and alter election results. The Commission on Elections and the PNP are now assessing “areas of immediate concern" to deteremine how to prevent election-related violence, according to Fajura. More than 200 villages in Caraga were declared by the government as “election hotspots" during the 2004 and 2007 polls. - GMANews.TV