BASILAN, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 26, 2007) – Police tightened security in the southern Philippine island of Basilan following an ambush believed connected to the upcoming village and youth council elections.
Police said gunmen ambushed a group of campaigners late Wednesday in the village of Bohe Sapa in Lamitan City. The ambush killed Liezel Manuel and wounded her brother, Joseph, who is running for the village polls.
The victim's father, Telesporo Manuel, the village chieftain, who rushed to hospital suffered a heart attack when he saw the body of his daughter.
Police earlier said that the woman was a candidate for the Sanguniang Kabataan elections, but corrected its report after investigators claimed that she was only campaigning for her brother.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but police said the ambush was probably connected to the October 29 synchronized Barangay and Sanguniang Kabataan elections.
Superintendent Salik Macapantar, the island’s police chief, said there is an ongoing investigation into the killing. “We are investigating the ambush. Police forces have been deployed and we have tightened security in Basilan to prevent any poll-related violence,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.
He said the slain woman was working with the Lamitan government.
On Tuesday, unidentified gunmen also killed a Sangguniang Kabataan chairperson, Donna Cateral, in Iloilo province, reports said.
Police said dozens of people had been killed and injured in poll related incidents in the country since last month. And more than 150 illegal weapons were also seized since the imposition of gun ban. (Mindanao Examiner)
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