Supporter of Pagadian City village bet survives hacking

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

PAGADIAN CITY, Zamboanga del Sur, Philippines — A supporter of village chair candidate Edmario Revelo here was wounded when a barangay watchman and supporter of incumbent village chair Jimmy Osing of Barangay Poloyagan hacked him with a bolo on Sunday night, according to the Pagadian city police chief, Lieutenant Colonel Gilzen Niño Manese.

Ronel Manggubat, the victim who is a resident of Barangay Poloyagan, sustained a wound on his head and was rushed to the nearest hospital.

He identified his attacker as Librado Mayola, a barangay watchman and supporter of Osing.

The hacking was only a preview of other disruptions on Monday as polls opened in various other areas of Zamboanga del Sur.

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Pockets of harassment

According to Lieutenant Colonel Terence Ylanan, commander of the Army’s 53rd Infantry Battalion, elections in the province were generally peaceful despite pockets of harassment in several towns.

In Dinas and San Miguel towns, residents reported seeing gunmen on a motorcycle roving on Sunday night, probably to threaten voters. This alerted authorities, thwarting their plans with augmented teams from both military and police forces doing patrols.

However, gunshots were also heard in both towns.

Authorities placed composite teams in all areas with reported security concerns, especially Kumalarang town. On Monday, there were reports of harassment incidents in a village in Dumingag town.

Of the 26 towns and one city in the province, only Ramon Magsaysay had no report of election-related incidents, Ylanan said.

As balloting was going on, Ylanan said authorities arrested three persons for violation of the gun ban; one in Aurora town and two in Pagadian City.