COTABATO CITY — A candidate for village chief in Kapatagan town, Lanao del Sur was killed in an ambush on Wednesday, five days short of Monday’s nationwide elections.
Col. Robert S. Daculan, Lanao del Sur provincial police director, said Kamar B. Bansil died on the spot from multiple bullet wounds while his wife and son, who were with him in a multicab, were badly wounded.
Mr. Daculan said his men are now hunting down the husband of Mr. Bansil’s rival for village chief as he was allegedly spotted leading gunmen in the ambush on the road in Barangay Sigayan, Kapatagan.
Last Monday, two candidates for barangay positions in this city — Nur M. Butucan and Alfar S. Ayunan, along with their companion — were gunned down by still unidentified assailants while putting up their campaign posters in a residential area.
Local executives assured on Wednesday to support the enforcement of the police and the poll body’s Data Sharing Agreement (DSA), forged to ensure the safety and integrity of the October 30 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.
The DSA, signed last Monday by top Philippine National Police officials led by its chief, Gen. Benjamin C. Acorda, Jr. and Chairman George Erwin Garcia of the Commission on Elections, provides the Comelec access to information on the PNP’s tactical activities during on Election Day and its law-enforcement activities related to the electoral exercise.
“We will support that and we are ready to help connect our local government units with the police units in our province for the PNP to have essential security updates from the ground that the LGUs can gather that the provincial police can pass on to the Comelec,” Basilan Gov. Jim Salliman said. — John Felix M. Unson