Lanao town poll exec wounded in ambush

MANILA, Philippines - A municipal election officer, along with two others, were seriously wounded in an ambush in Lanao del Norte yesterday morning, in the run-up to the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections on Oct. 25.

Rushed to the Mercy Hospital in Iligan City for several gunshot wounds was Pangalian Lumabao, election officer of the hinterland town of Tangkal.

Maj. Gen. Romeo Lustestica, commanding general of the Army’s 1st Infantry Division, said Lumabao’s companions, identified as Timbang Batingolo and Abdullah Cauntangan, were also wounded in the attack.

The three were on their way to Tangkal town aboard a car driven by Lumabao at around 8 a.m. yesterday when waylaid by unidentified gunmen in the vicinity of Pantaon, Kolambugan town.

Lustestica said Army troops are now pursuing the ambushers.

He said the ambush could have something to do with Lumabao’s reported order to charge a filing fee of P300 for every candidate running in the barangay and SK elections.

“It is election-related because the election officer (Lumabao) was the subject of an open complaint by a former Sangguniang Panlalawigan member during the meeting of the Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC) the other day for charging a filing fee of P300 per candidate,” Lustestica said.

This scheme, Lustestica said, is illegal, stressing that the filing of a certificate of candidacy is free.

Other than this, Lustestica added that Lumabao was also accused of accepting new voter registrants in Tangkal from the nearby province of Lanao del Sur.

“Somehow this incident can be classified as election-related because the victim was openly charged with committing pre-election irregularities during the PPOC (meeting),” Lustestica said.                    – With Lino de la Cruz