The Bugawas Elementary School in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte. (Photo courtesy of Google Street View)
COTABATO CITY – Two voters were killed while five others were wounded by gunmen in Datu Odin Sinsuat town, Maguindanao del Norte, on Monday morning.
Lt. Col. Esmael Madin, Datu Odin Sinsuat police chief, said the gunmen attacked the still unnamed victims as they were about to enter the Bugawas Elementary School to vote for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE).
“The suspects fled on a motorbike,” Madin said, adding that initial investigation showed the shooting occurred shortly after a commotion involving supporters of rival candidates for village chair.
He said “persons of interest” allegedly involved in the shooting were being pursued.
The voting venue was transferred to another school nearby.
Meanwhile, a supporter of a local candidate in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte, was killed when shot during a commotion on Monday afternoon, police said.
Lt. Colonel Esmael Madin, municipal police chief, said the victim, who was yet to be identified, was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital in Cotabato City after the shooting just as voting was about to close at 3 p.m. in Barangay Semba.
Madin said the supporters of rival candidates have been trading barbs over allegations of cheating since the voting started in the morning at the Sarilikha National High School.
Sarilika National High School principal Datu Brahim Balabaran Gulam said the shooting occurred outside the voting center along the provincial road.
Hunt on
Moreover, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr. has ordered a manhunt against the suspects identified as Romar Abas alias "Mok," Keds Lidasan alias "Keds", a certain Michael Abas and a certain Teng Kapaya.
He said the motive for the shooting is still under investigation.
The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) command center in Manila, for its part, said it has no update yet on the security condition in the area, and if the watchdog has to pull out their volunteers in areas where violence was reported.
It said PPCRV regional coordinator in BARMM, Fr. Dave Procalla, is in close coordination with 18 Muslim non-governmental organizations in Muslim-dominated areas in Mindanao to monitor the situation during the election. (With a report from Kris Crismundo/PNA)
