EDITORIAL - That bloody “tradition”

Election violence is again rearing its ugly head.

Just a few days before the start of the local campaign period in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, the election officer of Datu Odin Sinsuat Town and her husband were killed in an ambush.

Police said election officer Maceda Lidasan Abo and her husband, Jojo, who was driving their car, were heading to the town’s election office in Dalican village when they were attacked in Barangay Makir past 8 AM the other day.

Jojo died during the ambush, while Maceda later died in the hospital.

We can no longer say this was an isolated case; two earlier incidents of election violence were already recorded in the same town.

Last March 25, the vehicle of Nekitan Barangay Captain Mae Kris Sinsuat was fired upon in Barangay Bitu. Just a week before, two lawyers representing the United Bangsamoro Justice Party of gubernatorial candidate Ali Midtimbang were ambushed in Barangay Awang.

Sinsuat survived the attack in Barangay Bitu, but the attack in Barangay Awang left Junisa Kimamao dead and her fiancé Ibrahim Pendatu, also a lawyer, wounded.

While investigation is ongoing into the latest incident and results may yet yield evidence to the contrary, we can’t help but feel it’s related to the coming election.

Especially in hotly-contested areas, acts of violence like these show that some political dynasties, families, or groups still see what is supposed to be public office as personal property and some local government units as their own fiefs or kingdoms.

And that those who oppose them are enemies to be disposed of by all means, instead of seeing them as people merely exercising their right to run for office. And that fear and intimidation is a tool to bend voters to their will.

So far there has been no election in the Philippines that hasn’t been marred by incidents of violence or intimidation. Take note that this doesn’t just happen in the restive south. This has happened where political rivalry is hot.

The long and short of this is that more needs to be done not just to bring swift justice to perpetrator and masterminds of such attacks, but to overhaul the mentality of some people as to how elections really work, because the truth is that we have been conditioned by an unfortunate “tradition” of violence during elections.