Masbate Political Violence Claims 2nd Victim

CAMP ELIAS ANGELES, Pili, Camarines Sur, Jan. 22  - Unidentified armed men shot dead on Thursday a village chieftain of San Jacinto town in Masbate, a Philippine Army official said on Friday.

Killed was Danny Amor, village chief of Barangay Bartolabac in San Jacinto, Masbate.

Army Maj. Harold Cabunoc, 9th Infantry Division spokesman, said the incident took place around 8 p.m. on Thursday.

Eyewitnesses said five unidentified armed men forcibly entered the house of the victim and one of them, bearing a .45 caliber handgun with silencer, fired at the victim while the latter was having dinner with his family.

The victim sustained gunshot wounds at his back that instantly killed him. The suspects immediately fled the scene.

The eyewitnesses in the family failed to identify the suspects but it was believed that politics was the motive behind the killing.

Lt. Col. Anthony Purugganan, the commander of the 9th Infantry Battalion, immediately dispatched a team to conduct thorough investigation in the area in coordination with the Philippine National Police.

Amor was the second victim of political violence in the island province of Masbate after the killing of Association of Barangay Councils president Ali Aransado of Esperanza municipality on Tuesday.

In a related development, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Jesus Verzosa directed on Thursday the Bicol national police force to track down political armed groups (PAGs) operating in the island province of Masbate.

Verzosa at a joint conference with local government officials, police and military officials in Masbate City, said they have in their list eight PAGs operating in said province, four of which have been validated and identified.

Masbate is being considered by the Commission on Election (Comelec) as an election "hot spot" due to intense political rivalries and the existence of PAGs and communist insurgents.

Police and military authorities have recommended the placing of some 38 towns in Bikol considered as "hot spots" under Comelec control. Eighteen of these towns are in Masbate.

Verzosa instructed his field units to set up mobile check points to augment the stationary check points already established in strategic areas to effectively implement the Comelec gun ban.

Verzosa flew to Masbate on Thursday for a personal assessment of the situation now prevailing in the island-province following its inclusion in the PNP's list of areas being closely monitored for possible election-related violence in the coming May polls.

Masbate is tagged as political "tinder" box of Bikol where violence is a normal occurrence during election period due to intense political rivalries and the existence of PAGs.

Verzosa has placed Masbate under special police watch until the end of the election period and created Special Task Force (STF) "Masbate" to maintain peace and order and serve as overseer of all law enforcement and security operations in the province in close coordination with the military and other law enforcement agencies in the area.

Masbate province had been a perennial part of the Election Watch List of Areas (EWLAs), a two-category listing of places (province, cities or towns) of concern as assessed and classified by the PNP and Armed Forces of the Philippines based on reported violent incidents in past elections.

Verzosa tapped Senior Supt. Marcelo Garbo as head of the STF Masbate and Senior Supt. Ed Benigay as deputy commander.

STF Masbate will have an augmentation force of 100 men of the elite PNP Special Action Force and another company from the Public Safety Management unit from PNP Bicol, to assist in the operations of the various police offices and stations in the province. (PNA)

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