More village poll violence expected

By Inquirer DAGUPAN CITY--A candidate for village chief was shot dead in front of his furniture shop in Tayug, Pangasinan, on Tuesday even as more areas were placed under police watch in the run up to the barangay and youth elections on Oct. 29. Tayug police chief Supt. Sotero Soriano Jr. said Jaime Tolentino, 57, who filed his candidacy for barangay captain of Carriedo in Tayug on Monday, died instantly after men aboard a motorcycle shot him at about 12:15 p.m. Tuesday. Tolentino's 24-year-old son, Marlon, who was sawing a piece of wood in their shop, was wounded when a stray bullet hit his right leg. Soriano said the older Tolentino was hit in various parts of his body. Six empty shells from a .45 cal. pistol were recovered from the crime scene. "We are still trying to ascertain if this is a politically motivated killing," Soriano said. The police have placed at least 15 villages in Isabela and Cagayan provinces under its watch list for the synchronized barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections. Cagayan police director Senior Supt. Jude Wilson Santos said police were watching the villages of Liwan Norte and Barangay Dos in Enrile town and three villages in Tuguegarao City due to incidents of election-related violence in past elections. In Isabela, at least 10 villages in San Pablo, Aurora, San Mariano and Delfin Albano towns have been classified as "areas of concern" in the run up to the Oct. 29 elections. Isabela police director Senior Supt. Dominador Aquino Jr. said he has ordered police chiefs in these towns to be on "extra alert" to stop poll-related violence and clashes there. In the Cordillera, police were watching 63 villages for possible cases of election-related violence. Senior Supt. Noel Manabat, deputy regional director for operations of the Cordillera police, said these villages in Abra, Mt. Province, Benguet and Ifugao have been placed under their election watch areas (EWA) based on cases of political violence in the 2004 and 2007 elections. Gabriel Cardiñoza, Villamor Visaya Jr., Desiree Caluza, Inquirer Northern Luzon; Judy Quiros, Inquirer Mindanao