Quezon town added to poll ‘areas of concern’ after killings

LUCENA CITY — The police have added the coastal town of San Andres in Quezon province to their areas of concern after two suspected election-related killings hit the town.

Quezon police chief Col. Ramil Montilla said in an interview, that San Andres has now been categorized from “green” (areas that do not have security concern) to “yellow.”

Areas with “yellow” category are those with a history of election-related incidents in the last two elections, a history of intense political rivalry and areas that had been previously declared under the control of the Commission on Elections.

“We’ve already dispatched additional forces and a senior official to maintain the peace and order in San Andres,” Montilla said.

Killings

On Friday, two armed men shot and killed councilor Rodini Boot of Barangay (village) Tala in an apparent robbery incident.

Last week, Jebby Oro Sr. and one alias “Lando,” were both killed in an alleged shootout with local policemen.

Oro was the primary suspect in the killing of Edgardo Paradero, a ward leader of Giovanni Lim (PDP-Laban), who is contesting the town’s mayoral seat. Lim is the son of Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation president Alfredo Lim.

Also gunning for the mayoral post is Serson Empresa, the town’s vice-mayor, who belongs to a prominent political clan that has long been lording it over in local politics.

Montilla tagged the killings as possible politically motivated incidents. “We’re still deep in our investigation,” he said.

San Andres, facing Ragay Gulf, is a fourth class municipality in the most southern tip of the province. It is situated some 128 kilometers from the provincial capital Lucena City.

Categories

The Comelec placed the towns of Mauban, Mulanay, Burdeos Panukulan, Real, and Catanauan under “orange” category. Lucban is yellow; and General Nakar, red.

Areas under the “orange” category are those where there are serious armed threats by some groups.

“Red” or “areas of grave concern” are those that exhibit the combined characteristics of both yellow and orange categories.

Montilla placed the rest of Quezon province as “generally peaceful.” (Editor: Leti Z. Boniol)