Reelectionist village chief shot dead in Batangas
LUCENA CITY—An incumbent village chief seeking another term in the upcoming barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections in October was shot and killed in Taal town of Batangas province on Tuesday.
Police Maj. Fernando Fernando, Taal police chief, said in his report that the victim, Erasmo Hernandez, 59, the chief of Barangay Poblacion Zone 10, was standing in front of the village hall when shot by two armed men on board a motorcycle.
Hernandez died while being treated at Lemery Doctors Hospital in neighboring Lemery town, investigators said.
Col. Samson Belmonte, Batangas police chief, formed a Special Investigation Task Group that would immediately solve the killing and directed investigators to “not stop until those involved in this incident are located and arrested.”
In a phone interview Tuesday, Fernando said they were still determining if the killing was election-related.
On Monday, the Philippine National Police reported that it has so far monitored seven suspected election-related incidents of violence across the country, following the start of the filing of certificates of candidacy (COCs) on Aug. 28 for the barangay and SK elections on Oct. 30.
That day, a village chief in Libon town, Albay province, was also shot and killed by still-unidentified assailants.
Police said Alex Repato, incumbent and reelectionist village chief in San Jose, was gunned down in front of his house at 5:20 p.m. The killing took place just over six hours after Repato filed his COC.
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