By Nestor P. Burgos Jr.
Inquirer

ILOILO CITY, Philippines–An outgoing Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) chair was shot dead in her home in Lambunao town, Iloilo province, Tuesday evening, the first violent incident in the Visayas involving a youth council candidate less than a week before the barangay (village) and SK elections.

Bona Marie Catedral, 22, died from a gunshot wound in the left chest after she was shot at close range at around 6:30 p.m. at her family’s residence in Barangay Jayubo, 15 kilometers from the town proper. Lambunao is around 48 kilometers north of Iloilo City.

The victim is the fourth of five children of Lambunao Vice Mayor Pancho Catedral. Her remains were brought to the Solano Funeral Homes in Lambunao.

Investigators are still verifying reports that an unidentified gunman approached and shot the victim as she was about to close a window of their house.

Senior Inspector Elmer Armada, Lambunao police chief, said they were still investigating the circumstances of the shooting.

Armada would not confirm if politics was being eyed as angle in the shooting. He also refused to reveal the probable motives of the crime saying they were still in the early stage of their investigation.

By Tina Santos
Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines–While anti-government groups are trying to find ways to unseat President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, activist priest Robert Reyes has chosen “exorcism” to “rid the government of evil spirits.”

Reyes, also known as the “running priest” for jogging in support of social causes, performed exorcism rites on Monday in front of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) building in Manila, and also prayed for peaceful and credible barangay (village) elections on October 29.

By Inquirer Northern Luzon Bureau, Southern Luzon Bureau, Central Luzon Desk, Mindanao Bureau

MANILA, Philippines–While the enthusiasm generated by the national elections in May has died down, candidates for the Oct. 29 barangay (village) and Sangguniang Kabataan (youth council) elections have been trying to perk up the electorate by using time-tested campaign gimmicks.

Some candidates have resorted to merrymaking — complete with Ati-Atihan dancers and motorcades of jeepneys, pedicabs and tricycles — to introduce themselves to voters.

Others opted to conduct an anti-rabies vaccination campaign and free measles immunization for children.

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By DJ Yap
Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines–Candidates running for barangay (village) or Sangguniang Kabataan (youth council) posts in Makati City were warned not to violate election laws on the posting of campaign materials, lest they get fined.

The city government of Makati, through its environmental services department, also asked the candidates to minimize the use of campaign posters and to post them only on exterior walls allowed by the Commission on Elections.

“These campaign materials are eyesores and we do not want our city to be littered with them,” city environment department chief Danilo Villas said on Thursday.

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By Inquirer

CABANATUAN CITY–The practice of courting the endorsement of the Iglesia ni Cristo, a religious organization known to practice bloc voting, is not the exclusive domain of candidates for national and local government positions.

In the run up to the Oct. 29 synchronized barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections, some candidates for SK positions have started seeking the endorsement of local INC ministers to push their candidacies.

Early start

A candidate for SK chair in a northern Nueva Ecija city said she went to the office of the local INC minister to seek his help in her candidacy.

She said her father, who knows the minister, accompanied her and together they asked for an endorsement of her candidacy to the young members of the group.

The minister, she said, was non-committal and said he would study her request.

The candidate, a senior high school student who declined to be identified to avoid accusations of early campaigning, said she knew that other candidates in their village, both for the SK and barangay council elections, have already approached the minister to seek his endorsement.

Influence

“I was told that the members of INC deliver solid votes. That was the reason why we approached the minister. His endorsement will be a big help for me since there are many members of his group in our village,” the candidate said.

In Isabela, the police have tightened security preparations for the barangay and SK elections in at least 199 villages where communist rebels are known to be operating.

Senior Supt. Dominador Aquino Jr., Isabela police director, said he has ordered an intensified monitoring of these villages to stop any violent incident in the run up to the elections.

“We have to work on this matter because the police have been [one of the] primary forces against communist rebels,” he said.

Aquino said the villages they are watching are in the towns of Benito Soliven, Echague, Jones, San Mariano and San Agustin. Anselmo Roque, Inquirer Central Luzon, and Villamor Visaya Jr., Inquirer Northern Luzon