TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte?An official of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Eastern Visayas expressed alarm over the killings involving persons with political connections in Northern Samar.

Lawyer Jose Nick Mendros, acting Comelec regional director in the region, made the statement in reaction to the killings of Fr. Cecilio Lucero and Manolo Daza.

Lucero, a known human rights advocate, was gunned down on September 6 in San Jose town while Daza was killed inside a cockpit arena in Rosario town on October 2.

However, Mendros declined to describe the killings of Lucero and Daza as politically motivated since the Comelec has yet to receive the results of the investigations by the police and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

?We are constantly monitoring the (progress of their) investigation,? Mendros said on Monday.

Since the PNP and the NBI have yet to establish the motive, they could not say that the killings were election-related, Mendros said.

He explained that a killing could be described as politically motivated if it would result in the elimination of a potential opponent or a vital cog of a political organization.

The families of the two victims have called on the police and the NBI to solve the crime incidents.

Mendros would not also say if the killing of Lucero and Daza would be enough reason for the Comelec to declare Northern Samar as an area of concern in the 2010 elections.

During the 2007 elections, the province was classified as an area of concern due to high incidence of alleged killings.