Winning candidates are urged not to insult losers, which might be a reason for them to retaliate.
“Those who are winning, do not taunt the losers,” Brigadier General Sidney Villaflor, regional director of the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6), said in a media interview.
Villaflor said those who lost in the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) may still have hurt feelings for not winning the race.
He also reminded winners who may be celebrating their poll victory that the liquor ban is still in effect and they would be arrested once they commit any violation.
As of Tuesday morning, October 31, the PRO-6 has recorded two additional cases of suspected election-related incidents — a shooting where the target was a reelected barangay captain in Iloilo and unjust vexation involving candidates in Capiz.
The shooting incident victimized re-elected chairperson Renato Lebuna of Barangay Pajo in Iloilo province’s Lambunao town, whose car was shot at while on his way home after dropping his poll watchers around 11:50 p.m. on Monday, October 30.
Major Jojean Suegay, chief of the Lambunao Municipal Police Station, said Lebuna was unharmed, along with three other passengers. His Isuzu Crosswind, however, had seven bullet holes on the passenger side from a firearm that is yet to be determined.
The suspect remains at large.
“We have no previous record involving any of the parties, so possibly it has something to do with their running in the elections. The incident happened after the counting of votes, and the winners have been proclaimed,” he said.
Suegay said they are coordinating with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for validation of whether or not the incident is election-related.
Priority
Meanwhile, in Antique, reelected Liga ng mga Barangay president Pamela Azucena Socorro said she would prioritize promoting the tourism potential of Barangay Idio in her third term.
Socorro said she would lobby to declare their marine protected area as an eco-tourism destination, embark on reforestation, improve the access roads leading to the four falls and provide livelihood opportunities for their residents.
Reaching the hidden Igkataw, Kipot, Nabarao, and Bulwang waterfalls entails a two to three-hour walk from the village’s plaza.
“I really felt the trust of the people in my leadership that they have elected me,” she said in an interview.
Newly-elected barangay councilor Nestor Napalinga, Jr. of Barangay Tigbalua I in Sibalom said he would allocate part of his honorarium for educational assistance to college students and the food and medicines of senior citizens in their barangay.
Antique provincial election supervisor Salud Milagros Villanueva said in an interview on Tuesday that 98 percent or 578 barangays of the total 590 in Antique have already proclaimed their winning candidates. (PNA)