Comelec eyes one case of election violence
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) confirmed on Thursday that a killing in Libon, Albay, was related to the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan council elections in October. The agency’s spokesperson, John Rex Laudiangco, said the case involved the killing of incumbent barangay chief and reelectionist Alex Repato of Barangay San Jose in Libon town. There were other killings involving listed candidates, but Laudiangco said, they were not related to the election. After just three days, the number of candidates rose to 767,064, based on the latest Comelec data. Majority, or 66 percent, were males at 506,440, while females accounted for around 34 percent at 260,624. —KATHLEEN DE VILLA