In Mindanao provinces, 2 election officials were killed in 2 days

Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia Calls These Murders ‘An Attack on Democracy Itself’

CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines – Two Commission on Elections (Comelec) officials stationed in volatile cities in Mindanao were gunned down within two days, adding a chilling dimension to deep-seated local political tensions.

Mark Orlando Vallecer II, acting election official for Nunungan City, Lanao del Norte, and Janeco Allan Dionaldo Pandoy, election assistant for Isulan, Sultan Kudarat, were targeted in what police say were calculated attacks by still unidentified assailants.

In a statement, Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said the murders were not just crimes against government officials but “an attack on democracy itself.”

“Violence will not deter us, and those who seek to harm democracy will face the full force of the law,” Garcia said.

Two armed men riding a tandem motorcycle fired at Vallecera as he was driving a red car as it slowed down on a rough stretch of road in Barangay Curva Miagao, Salvador, Lanao del Norte at 2:19 p.m., Monday, November 25, said Major Teodorico Gallego, chief city ​​police.

Gallego said Vallecer, who hails from Cagayan de Oro, was on his way to Lala City after attending a meeting with election officials led by Lanao del Norte provincial election director Joseph Hamilton Cuevas at the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) building in Salvador city.

The victim was taken to Bontilao Hospital in Lala City, where he was pronounced dead on arrival, Gallego said.

Vallecera’s body was flown to his hometown of Cagayan de Oro late Monday night and was met with tears by his wife, Emily, family and friends from the Brotherhood of Christian Businessmen and Professionals (BCBP) at the local mortuary.

Jed Lasmarias, a classmate, said Vallecer, a member of Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan Batch 1990, had just attended the school’s grand reunion last Saturday.

Tito Mora, another BCBP member, said Vallecer confided in them that he had received death threats from local politicians.

On Saturday, November 23, at 4:18 p.m., two gunmen on a motorcycle shot and killed Pandoy along a highway in Sampaguita in Poblacion, President Quirino’s town in Sultan Kudarat Province.

Quirino police chief Major Joemarie Cua said Pandoy was riding home on his black motorcycle from a hair salon when he was attacked.

Cua said Pandoy was taken to nearby Immaculate Conception Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. – Rappler.com