Red Cross volunteers to be deployed in election hot spots

MANILA, Philippines - Volunteers of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) would be deployed in areas identified as election hot spots in the country on election day.

Jean-Daniel Tauxe, head of the ICRC delegation in the Philippines, said yesterday that they would be working in the hot spots where election-related violence is prevalent.

Tauxe said Mindanao would be their priority area, particularly Maguindanao where 57 people were killed last Nov. 23 in what has been described as the worst pre-election violence in the country.

“It (Mindanao) is an area which is very volatile,” Tauxe said.

Tauxe said Red Cross “first responders,” as well as key emergency supplies, including blood supplies, would be deployed in places cited by authorities as having the “presence of armed elements,” which usually could trigger election violence.

Even as a de facto ceasefire has been implemented between government forces and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Mindanao, Tauxe stressed security remains the core issue in the region.

The Consortium on Electoral Reforms (CER) earlier urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to require candidates to sign an agreement vowing peaceful conduct of the elections on May 10.

The CER reported that a total of 93 election-related killings have been recorded so far, including the massacre in Maguindanao.

The Ampatuan family, led by Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., have been accused of the massacre to prevent political rivals from filing their certificates of candidacy for the May elections. – Helen Flores