ILOILO City – Following three election-related deaths, the town of Moises Padilla in Negros Occidental has been officially placed under the control of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
Comelec Commissioner Antonio Kho Jr. personally went to Moises Padilla Monday to officially implement the poll body’s en banc resolution.
Along with Comelec-6 Regional Director Jose Nick Mendros and Negros Occidental Comelec Officer Milagros Villanueva, Kho explained to department chiefs of the Moises Padilla local government what the order means.
“Basically, the local government is under more scrutiny and rules must be complied,” Kho noted. Thus, the local government’s operations is being directly supervised by a special task force until the election period.
To recall, three Moises Padilla politicians have been killed in a span of a month.
Last April 25, town councilor Michael Garcia and his uncle, Mark Garcia, were shot and killed while campaigning.
Councilor Garcia was running for reelection. The uncle, who was a former ex-officio member of the town council, was joining the campaign as his sister, Vice Mayor Ella Garcia-Yulo, is running against incumbent Magdaleno Peña.
Late in March, councilor Jolomar Bañares Hilario was killed when 50-armed men belonging to the New People’s Army (NPA) raided his house and shot him several times. Hilario was also running for reelection.
With the latest development, there is also new security force both from the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Philippine Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade (303 IB).
The entire police force of the town was sacked last week and replaced by 2,000 cops coming from different units of Police Regional Office (PRO-6 while about 1,000 soldiers from 303 IB. (Tara Yap)
