MANILA, Philippines ? Senator Manny Villar saw Thursday an ?emerging pattern of persecution? against his colleagues in the Nacionalista Party (NP), following the killings of at least four of his local candidates.

The assassinations, Villar pointed out, happened 11 weeks away from the start of the local campaign period.

?We are just on the seventh day of the New Year and we already have lost four of our local candidates to assassinations. Have we become endangered political species?? he said in a statement.

Gunned down and killed in separate incidents were Cipriano ?Bobong? Albores, a former kagawad (councilor) of Kinangan, Malita, Davao del Sur and an organizer of the Manny Villar for President Movement in the province; Barangay (village) Captain Wilbert "Dodong" Origines, ABC president and NP candidate for vice mayor in Taganaan town, Surigao del Norte; Barangay Chairman Joen Canete, the party's candidate for councilor in the town of Dingras; and Julio ?Bimbo? Esquivias, NP candidate in Casiguran, Sorsogon and a retired police officer.

?Because they can?t be beaten fair and square they were beaten in a manner most foul. There is no other explanation for their tragic fate other than this: They were killed because they were winning," Villar said.

?That is tragic repeating story of our so-called democracy,? the senator lamented, ?Those who have no chances of winning through the ballot are resorting to the bullet.?

Villar then urged the Commission on Elections and police authorities to rid the ?climate of violence? in hotspot areas ?where the temptation of candidates with no chances of winning to resort to force grows as the election period nears.?

?Ngayon pa lang dapat agapan na ng mga otoridad. Habang umiinit ang panahon, umiinit din ang eleksyon. Kung tuloy ang pagpaslang, ibig sabihin, hindi epektibo at press release lamang ang kampanya laban sa private armies [Authorities should move fast and do something about the incidents. As the weather heats up, so does the election. If the killings continue, this means that the government has not been effective and its campaign against private armies is merely a press release],? he said.

Villar also expressed disappointment that gains in computerizing the elections were cancelled by ?the primitive way local election contests were settled.?

?We may be able to modernize the way we vote and count the vote but can we really claim progress if some of us still resort to the Stone Age practice of just bludgeoning the opponent?? he asked.