Policeman killed in Abra province on eve of presidential elections

Gunmen shot dead a policeman after his team responded to calls of a supporter of a mayoralty bet who survived a failed ambush in the northern Philippines late on Saturday night, a belated police report said yesterday.

Senior Police Officer Jeofry Ponce was killed when he and other policemen went to investigate a shooting incident in which the supporter of Joseph Bernos, a mayoralty bet of La Paz in Abra province, was shot at by unidentified rivals, said Police Superintendent Joseph Adnol.

Ponce was the 113th person to die in the violence-marred campaign for the May 14 mid-term elections, police said.

Romeo Agcalis, a supporter, escaped death even when his car was peppered with bullets along a major thoroughfare in Danglas town on Saturday night. His unidentified attackers fired at the policemen who came for a rescue operation.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) placed Abra under its control following several shooting incidents that involved supporters of rival politicians since January, the start of the campaign period for the May 14 polls.

The Philippine National Police failed to dismantle an estimated 10 private armies that operate in Abra, an election flashpoint in landlocked northern Luzon province.

Comelec has deployed a joint team of 1,000 police and soldiers with high powered firearms and grenade launchers at Bangued, a capital, and at nearby villages and towns.