7 dead in Election Day violence in Mindanao

Election Day violence left one person dead in Sulu, one in Lanao del Sur and five in Zamboanga del Sur, police authorities said.

Unidentified men fired at a convoy of voters in Tiptipon, Panglima Estino, Sulu, killing one person and wounding five others, Sulu police chief Senior Supt. Antonio Freyra reported.

Five persons were killed in scattered incidents in Zamboanga del Sur, according to Brig. General Daniel Lucero, the commander of the 1st Infantry Division.

Lucero said three persons were killed and five wounded at Barangay (village) Buboan in Bayog town when followers of a politician strafed a group of armed men.

Senior Insp. Ariel Huesca, spokesman of the Western Mindanao police office, said four hours later, armed men also ambushed and killed two persons in Barangay Kahayagan, also in Bayog. He identified the victims as Dexter Calunsag, 20, and Michael Mendoza, 22.

In North Cotabato, a powerful blast also took place inside a school in Kabacan town on Saturday evening but no one was harmed.

In Shariff Aguak in Maguindanao, voters waiting in line for their turn scampered to safety when a grenade—fired from an M203 grenade launcher—exploded nearby. No one was reported hurt.

Grenade explosions also took place in the other Maguindanao towns of Datu Unsay and Datu Saudi on Monday, according to Col. Dickson Hermoso, the spokesman of the military’s 6th Infantry Division. No casualties were reported.

Since the start of the election season, nearly a dozen persons had already been killed in Maguindanao, one of the nation’s election hot spots.

A day before the balloting, Abas Minsu, Maguindanao district school supervisor, was shot dead. He was the second board of election inspector to be killed in Maguindanao after the May 6 killing of Loreto Tajon, the head teacher of a public school in Sultan Mastura town.

One person was killed and 23 others were wounded in Lanao del Sur in what authorities described as the most peaceful balloting in the province since 1987.

The lone casualty was identified as Imo Montaner. He was going home at around 2 p.m. after voting in Barangay Mable of Malabang town when he was sprayed with bullets a few blocks from the polling center.

Local police and field monitors of the poll watchdog group said the incident was related to an ongoing “rido” and not to the political exercise.

In Marawi City, a hand grenade was lobbed at Cabingan Elementary School in Marawi City, wounding five persons, the military reported. One of the wounded was Fahad Salic Jr., 21, son of reelectionist mayor Fahad Sr. Three other Salic family members were among those injured and an elderly woman. All were rushed to Amai Pakpak Public Hospital.

In all, the hospital was treating 12 patients from election-related violence in various areas of the province, authorities said.—Reports from Julie Alipala, Edwin Fernandez, Charlie Señase, Jeoffrey Maitem, Kaiza Marie Nawal, Karlos Manlupig, Germelina Lacorte, Dennis Santos, Aquiles Zonio, Orlando Dinoy, Eldie Aguirre and Ryan Rosario, Inquirer Mindanao