Election Death Toll Now 99; 2 more killed in Sulu clash

An ongoing clash between two Muslim clans in Sulu has killed two more persons in election-related violence that prompted the military to send in troops for the second time, officials said yesterday.

The warring clans set houses on fire in the village of Bato-Bato in Indanan town, sending villagers fleeing for safety, Army commander Col. Romeo Tolentino said.

At least 99 people were killed nationwide, including 11 candidates and 14 government officials, and 63 were wounded since campaigning began in May for last Monday’s elections for barangays, the smallest political districts.

The balloting was still considered by the government as "generally peaceful" compared with previous polls.

The Bato-Bato fighting between the two Muslim clans, who were rivals in the local polls, has killed five people. It began Monday when three people were killed while on their way to a voting precinct. In the latest bloodshed on Wednesday, one villager was fatally shot while another was hacked to death.

Tolentino said he was resending troops to the village, which had gone quiet after the initial incident only to burst into fighting again after the troops pulled out.

"The fighting is continuing. We pacified them but it was only for a while. They clashed again and they fought fiercely with each other," he said.

Local officials said the leader of one clan, Salip Aloy, is being supported by armed followers of jailed former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governor Nur Misuari.

Aloy’s wife was running for barangay head, and a number of their followers were aspiring for barangay council seats.

Tolentino said troops would restore the peace in the village and arrest any trouble-makers.

"We will apprehend them and if they resist, then we will shoot them," he said.

Sulu is inhabited by numerous Muslim armed bands, including private armies of local politicians, rebel groups and outlaws like the Abu Sayyaf. As a result, bloody fighting frequently breaks out over elections.

In a separate incident, a man belonging to a tribe in South Cotabato attacked a police chief with a machete and seriously wounded him.

Antonio Ocong of the B’laan tribe, who went amok after he found out he lost his race, was being hunted by the police, police chief Bartolome Baluyot said.

Meanwhile, Lt. Gen. Gregorio Camiling, Armed Forces’ vice chief of staff, said the number of violent incidents — 210 — in last Monday’s barangay polls was comparatively lower than in the 1998 and 2001 elections.

In 1998, the military recorded a total of 295 violent incidents, and in 2001, 268, Camiling said.

Of the 210 poll-related violent incidents this year, 161 happened before election day, 26 on the day itself, and the rest after the polls.— Wire reports and Christina Mendez