By TARA YAP

ILOILO CITY – Following three allegedly election-related deaths, the town of Moises Padilla in Negros Occidental has been officially placed under the control of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Comelec Commissioner Antonio Kho Jr. (4th from right) with officials of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and Philippine Army officially put the town of Moises Padilla in Negros Occidental province under Comelec control Monday. (Police Regional Office 6 / MANILA BULLETIN)

Commissioner Antonio Kho Jr. personally went to Moises Padilla Monday to officially implement the Comelec’s en banc resolution.

Along with Comelec-6 Regional Director Jose Nick Mendros and Negros Occidental Comelec Officer Milagros Villanueva, Kho personally explained to department chiefs of the Moises Padilla local government what the order meant.

“Basically, the local government is under more scrutiny and rules must be complied (with),” Kho noted.

Thus, the local government’s operations will be directly supervised by a special task force until the election period ends.

To recall, three Moises Padilla politicians have been killed in a span of a month.

Last April 25, Town Councilor Michael Garcia and his uncle, Mark Garcia, were shot and killed while campaigning.

Councilor Garcia was running for reelection. The uncle, who was a former ex-officio member of the town council, was at the campaign because his sister, Vice Mayor Ella Garcia-Yulo, was running against incumbent Magdaleno Peña.

Late in March, Councilor Jolomar Bañares Hilario was killed when 50 armed men, belonging to the New People’s Army (NPA), raided his house and shot him several times.  Hilario was also running for reelection.

With the latest development, there will also be a new security force that was deployed in Moises Padilla from the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Philippine Army’s 303^rd Infantry Brigade (303 IB).

The entire police force of the town was sacked last week and replaced by 2,000 cops coming from different units of Police Regional Office (PRO-6 while about 1,000 soldiers from 303 IB.

“Municipality of Moises Padilla, Negros Occidental is now under Comelec control,” she said in her Twitter account @commrguanzon.

Under the law, the Comelec may place any political subdivision under its immediate and direct control and supervision if, among other things, there is a history of current intense political rivalry among contending parties, as such rivalries could motivate people to engage in violent acts.

Apart from immediately taking control over all national and local officials in the affected area, when a place is declared under Comelec control, the Commission exercises full control and supervision over all national and local law enforcement agencies, as well as military officers and men, assigned or deployed in that area. Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said the basis for including Moises Padilla municipality to the list is the political violence in the area. “These events clearly and convincingly show that it falls squarely on the parameters of Section 3  of Resolution 10481 for areas to be declared as under Comelec control. This is urgent and necessary therefore and strongly recommended that Moises Padilla be placed under Comelec control,” he said reading an advance copy of the resolution. In January, Comelec declared the municipality of Daraga in Albay and the City of Cotabato in Maguindanao under its control. #MatalinongBoto2019