Security alert in deadly Philippine village elections
Millions of voters go to the polls after 22 killed in pre-election violence
Security forces were on high alert across the Philippines on Monday as millions of voters went to the polls to choose village leaders, with 22 people killed in pre-election violence.
Poll officials said about 336,000 village chief and councillor posts were up for grabs in the country’s dynamic but corrupt brand of democracy, where politicians are infamous for employing private armies to kill or intimidate rivals.
While villages are the smallest government units, they are hotly contested because they serve as the connection for major political parties to cultivate their grassroots network and widen their support base.
There has been violence due to intense political rivalry with emotions running high on the ground between rivals
“There has been violence due to intense political rivalry with emotions running high on the ground between rivals,” national police spokesman Reuben Theodore Sindac said.
He said 22 people had been killed in the four-week run-up to the polls, half of them incumbent politicians running for re-election.
Twenty-seven other people were hurt in election related violence, including two police officers and two election officers who were ambushed by unidentified gunmen in the central island province of Masbate on Sunday.
Despite efforts by President Benigno Aquino to curb the power of political warlords and their private armies, Sindac said this year’s violence was worse than the last village polls in 2010, when 15 people were killed.