EDITORIAL - Don’t let killers get away

Whether in remote rural areas or in densely populated Metro Manila, there’s no escaping lethal armed violence targeting candidates in the upcoming midterm elections.

The latest victim is a party-list nominee, Leninsky Bacud, who was shot dead by men on a motorcycle before 6 p.m. last Monday along P. Guevarra street in Sampaloc, Manila. Several vehicles were damaged when the assailants reportedly exchanged fire with an off-duty policeman at the scene.

Probers said Bacud was on his way home from a campaign sortie of Ang Bumbero when he was attacked. He died of multiple gunshot wounds in a hospital.

The murder came on the heels of the fatal shooting of mayor Joel Ruma of Rizal town in Cagayan on April 23.

In Camarines Norte on April 27, the tires of two sport utility vehicles used in the campaign of reelectionist Mayor Luz Ricasio of Capalonga town were strafed at around 2:30 p.m. The SUVs were parked at the time and unoccupied, and no one was injured. But the bullet casings recovered at the scene indicate the firepower of the gunmen: five from a 5.56mm rifle and one each from a caliber .45 and 9mm handguns.

Who has access to rifles in this country? Even if the strafing was not meant to kill, it was clearly meant to scare Ricasio and undermine her bid for another term as mayor. Another attack could become lethal.

All these attacks are being staged amid the election gun ban, when there is supposed to be heightened security alert for poll-related armed violence. Yet incidents of gun violence that leave victims dead or maimed are being reported almost daily in different parts of the country.

And there are likely to be more, as long as people believe they have a good chance of getting away with murder. The Philippine National Police must exert more effort to disabuse people of this belief, by catching the killers and ensuring that the victims get justice.