Mayors, solons get death threats- PNP

ILOILO CITY, Philippines  â€” As the May 2013 poll nears, the number of politicians in Western Visayas who claimed to have death threats has been increasing.

Chief Supt. Agrimero Cruz, Jr., director of Police Regional Office-6, confirmed Wednesday that his command have received a number of reports on the supposed death threats against politicians. Most of them are from Negros Occidental and Iloilo provinces, he said.

When asked of the number of politicians who are perceived to be under threat, Cruz declined to give a figure. “Basta may iilan. Karamihan mga mayors. Meron ding mga congressmen at governors,” he said.

These politicians allegedly received threats through letters, text messages, and even calls. Consequently, “humihingi po sila ng security detail dahil nga po sa mga bantang ito sa kanilang buhay,” Cruz said.

PRO-6 sources however said that at least 55 politicians in Western Visayas have asked to be given police escorts.

“We take all these threat reports seriously. Hindi po natin ito isinasantabi. We are verifying all reports that we received,” Cruz said although he refused to elaborate further on the threat assessment, claiming that it was part of the police operational data.

Relatedly, since threats would employ goons and guns, Cruz said intelligence operatives were already alerted for the presence of guns-for-hire.

Hired killers would likely to be employed considering that police have not monitored the presence of active private armed groups (PAGs) or private armies, he added.

For now, Cruz advised politicians to report any threat on their safety and to take extra precautions. (FREEMAN)