More murders mar poll drive

Manila: A campaign supporter of boxer Manny Pacquiao's opponent was gunned down yesterday in South Cotabato, southern Philippines, making him the 102nd murder victim during the four months of the election period.

A report by GMA television network said the unnamed supporter of South Cotabato Representative Darlene Antonino-Custodio was shot in Tupi town. Custodio is running against boxing champ Pacquiao for a congressional seat in the province for this Monday's polls.

At the same time, unidentified assailants ambushed supporters of Mayor Ceasar Soriano of Siocon, in Zamboana del Norte, also in southern Philippines.

Another supporter of a gubernatorial candidate in Compostella Valley, 900km southeast of Manila, was also fatally shot while his daughter was wounded when unidentified men attacked his residence.

Victim

Police identified the victim as Ernie Tatoy who was shot dead while inside his residence by men pretending to be distributing campaign leaflets of candidates. His 13-year-old daughter was also wounded in the leg during the attack.

Tatoy is the 100th fatality of poll violence since the month of February when the election campaign started.

Half of the victims were candidates and politicians while 36 are identified as supporters and 11 are civilians, authorities said.

In the last national polls in 2004, a total of 189 people died and 279 were wounded when Filipinos voted for president down to local positions.

More than 17,000 national and local positions are at stake for Monday's polls. Close to 90,000 candidates are vying for various government posts.

The Commission on Elections has so far placed seven provinces under its control because of an escalation of violence between political rivals in some areas.

Arroyo misses rally because of diarrhoea

President Gloria Arroyo missed the campaign rally of her administration's senatorial ticket in Iloilo in central Philippines yesterday because of diarrhoea.

Arroyo, who was supposed to be the special guest of senatorial bets belonging to the administration's Team Unity, failed to show up during their campaign rally in Iloilo as she opted to fly back to Manila from Cebu, also in central Philippines.

Romeo Prestoza, chief of the President's Security Group, said Arroyo was told by her doctors to "slow down" after falling ill when she inaugurated a number of infrastructure projects in that province.

Arroyo suffered dehydration because of her condition while she was in Cebu, said Press Undersecretary Isabel de Leon.

As per advice by her doctors, Arroyo did only one activity yesterday as she showed herself to the public with a dextrose drip attached to her arm. She was told to rest to recover her strength, according to Prestoza.

Arroyo arrived shortly before 10 in the morning to meet with Sarah Dematera, an Overseas Filipino Worker, who was freed from a Saudi Arabian prison where she spent 15 years for the murder of her employer.