SunStar: Davao del Sur under total gun ban

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) imposed a total gun ban on Davao del Sur, after investigators linked a politician’s bodyguards to the killing of a mayoralty bet and his son. Sun-Star Davao (www.sunstar.com.ph) reported Friday that the order, which took effect as early as last Tuesday, included revoking all gun ban exemptions. The report said the Comelec maintained there is no reason to place the province under its control, but that additional police and the military have been requested to be deployed in the province. Regional police director Chief Supt. Andres Caro II said the police have coordinated with the Comelec to deploy more troops and policemen in Davao del Sur, specifically in Malita and Digos City where canvassing is taking place. “The military is also helping by intensifying checkpoints to ensure that no armed groups except for the police and military will be able to pass," said Caro. He said the RPOC aims to seal the province and neutralize unauthorized partisan armed groups that have wreaked havoc in the area. For his part, Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte issued a “shoot-to-kill" order against bodyguards of politicians in the province who will resist arrest for violating the gun ban. Comelec commissioner for Mindanao Romeo Brawner ordered of all gun ban exemptions in the province revoked due to the killing of Malita mayoralty bet Isidro Sarmiento and son Danilo last May 16. Gubernatorial bet Rep. Claude Bautista and four of his bodyguards were charged for the killings. The Sarmientos were known supporters of Bautista’s rival Rep. Douglas Cagas. Duterte said politicians have no business employing bodyguards who have criminal records, adding that if their bodyguards kill anyone, they are accountable as accessories to the crime. “Any politician escorted by anyone on the wanted list will also be arrested," he warned. Duterte named an Allan Estrada as one of those being hunted by the police for involvement in alleged kidnapping and other criminal activities. “Reports say that he (Estrada) is presently in Malita," Duterte said. The mayor said Estrada enjoys the protection of a politician who hired him as bodyguard. But he assured the people that there is no implementation of martial law in the province. He said that such action is necessary to bring back peace and order in the province. The Comelec has yet to proclaim the winner in the province’s gubernatorial race. Meanwhile, Brawner’s chief staff Belen Salespara-Carasig admitted the Comelec did not foresee the escalation of violence in Davao del Sur. Carasig said that they were more concerned about the conduct of the elections in the province of Compostela Valley than any other province in the region. She said there was no reason to place Davao del Sur under Comelec control as the conduct of the polls in the region was already finished. Also, she said the purpose of placing an area under Comelec control was to ensure the peaceful and orderly conduct of the polls. According to her, the move of Brawner was just to ensure that the violence in the province would no longer escalate. The province of Davao del Sur grabbed the limelight after Sarmiento and his son were shot dead in the municipality of Malita on Wednesday last week. Of the four provinces in the Davao Region, only Compostela Valley was placed under Comelec control during the election period due to the strong presence of the insurgency movement in the area. - GMANews.TV