Masbate Bishop Says "status quo" Will Stop Election-Related Violence

MASBATE CITY--Call it the curious case of Bishop Baylon. Bishop Joel Z. Baylon of the Diocese of Masbate has called for a status quo in the top elective positions in this province come 2010 elections.
Bishop Baylon said this coming election would be relatively peaceful if the three incumbent district representatives and the governor of the province would run for re-election unopposed.
The three congressmen are Narciso Bravo Jr. (First District), Rizalina Lanete (Third District), and Antonio Kho (Second District). Elisa Olga Kho, wife of Rep. Kho, is the governor.
He said the status quo proposal would assure the four sitting officials of their current positions and would prevent any of them from running against each other, which may fuel electionrelated violence.
He said his proposal was triggered by the ambush and subsequent killing of Milagros town Vice Mayor Antonio de Jesus last month, which according to him was politically-motivated.
“The ambush of Vice Mayor de Jesus smells like a murder meant to cleanse a political obstacle. And he may not be the only victim. His killing could just be a start of a series of political executions before 2010,” said Baylon.
He said the proposal was not meant to tolerate political dynasties but as a preemptive move against election-related violence and bloodshed as election season nears.
“The people of Masbate would still go out and vote for their leaders this coming elections. The only difference is they would be electing unopposed candidates.” He said he did not mean to condone election-related killings. “Justice for victims would still be pursued.”
“But I choose the right to life over the right to vote,” he said, adding that his proposal was only meant for peaceful elections in this province, at least in 2010. Peaceful elections, according to him, are those free from politically-related violence.
“A status quo in 2010 could assure peaceful elections.” He said his proposal was only one-time. “In the meantime that there are no rivalries and tension, officials can focus on developmental concerns. I will not be proposing another status quo again.”
He said the root cause of election-related violence in the province is “the practice of patronage politics that has made megalomaniac politicians act like benefactors and patrons to their supposed constituents.”
“Enough is enough. [Election-related] killings must be put to an end. Officials should start using their office not for political preservation but for the delivery of basic services.”
He said if his proposal would not be realized, he would be forced to ask the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to declare the province again as an election hotspot in 2010.
Gov. Elisa Olga Kho said she was open to Baylon’s proposal. Kho said the realization of the proposal would make top elective officials in the province focus on their jobs and not on being elected.
“If the proposal [of the Bishop] will push through, the result of the elections will be good for everybody since the elected officials can concentrate on doing their responsibilities to the people,” said Kho.
Masbate, one of the poorest provinces in the country, has been in the COMELEC’s list of election hotspots in the country, because of its violent political history.
In 1989, then congressman and former governor Moises Espinosa was shot dead on the tarmac of Masbate Airport.
In 1995, his brother, former district representative Tito Espinosa, was also assassinated.
In 2001, Moises Espinosa Jr., then the mayor of Masbate City was killed while attending a barangay fiesta less than two months after he assumed office.
Bobby Dalanon, chief of Barangay Narangasan in Milagros town, told said his province has always been volatile every elections.