Mayoral candidate ‘shot dead by NPA’

A mayoral candidate succumbed to a gunshot wound after he was shot at close range by suspected members of the communist new People's Army (NPA) in Camalig, Bicol region, southern Philippines, last Friday, in continuing election related violence.

Dr. Florencio Mu'oz, 68, went down from the stage after making a campaign speech, shook hands with his supporters and was about to board a waiting vehicle when three men who pretended to be his allies closed in on him and fired at close range, said a report that reached suburban Quezon City's police headquarters.

The assailants fled on foot and mixed with the panic-stricken crowd, said the report. Munoz was rushed to a nearby hospital, but died 30 minutes after the incident. He was the third to die in election-related violence in the Bicol, a hotbed of the communist New People's Army (NPA) because of its underdevelopment.

Incumbent mayor and partymate Imelda Roces, who is aiming for a Congressional seat, was beside Munoz during the ambush, but she was not hurt. The communists had been targeting Munoz for allowing the establishment of a cement plant in the area despite the objections of some environmentalists and residents, said Provincial police chief Superintendent Reynaldo Rafel.

Political candidates in the country's communist- hotspots, demand money for access to the hinterlands, where the NPA members are located. The Commission on Elections (Comelc) forged a covenant with political rivals to stop the spiralling violence, with 12 deaths recorded three weeks before the May 14 congressional and local elections.

The Comelec and the police recently launched a strategy to ease tension in more than 260 hot spots all over the country. These were identified as the places where political rivals kill each other, and where the communists and the Muslim rebels are found.

Meanwhile, only eight of the senatorial candidates of the ruling party are in the magic 13, the seats to be filled up in the May 14 elections, according to the monthly surveys done by the private Social Weather Station.

Former TV broadcaster Noli de Castro, an independent, has remained the number one favourite, a sign that journalists are now more popular than movie and sports personalities who used to win elected posts.

Only four of the senatorial candidates of deposed President Joseph Estrada made it to the top 13. They were former Executive Secretary Edgardo Angara, former Defence Chief Orlando Mercado, Senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Gregorio Honasan.

"Angara and Mercado were also former senators during the time of former president Fidel Ramos. Their popularity is a case of name recall," said the Social Weather, adding that they were not seen as avid Estrada fans.

Senator Miriam Santiago, who was criticised for her defence of Estrada during the latter's Senate impeachment trial from December to January, has been out of the running. Enrile, who was also dubbed as Estrada's able lawyer during the impeachment trial, remained at the lower end of the 13 future senators.