Comelec officer wounded in Agusan Sur gun attack

BUTUAN City - Unidentified gunmen shot and critically injured a Commission of Elections officer in Agusan del Sur, after receiving the compact flash cards for the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines to be used for Monday’s polls. A report from the government-run Philippine Information Agency (PIA) said Loreto town Comelec officer Jay Salinas was shot in front of his house around 10:45 p.m. Friday in Poblacion Loreto. The PIA report quoted Comelec Caraga Regional Director Francisco Pobe’s report as saying that after Salinas received the compact flash cards, gunmen suddenly came and shot him in front of his household members. Salinas’ condition is being closely monitored by doctors at the D.O.P Memorial Hospital in Patin-ay in Prosperidad town. The report said Salinas had to be brought to the hospital on a speedboat as there was no vehicle during the attack. Loreto is one of the river towns of Agusan del Sur and is located around 170 kilometers from Butuan City . Meanwhile, the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) monitoring center here at the Fr. Saturnino Urios University claimed New People’s Army rebels harassed the team delivering PCOs machines in San Luis town last Friday. “Our PPCRV volunteers got nervous of the incident. However the escorting cops immediately covered and conducted hot pursuit operations against the armed men suspected to be NPA rebels operating in the area," said Grace Marlesa, head of the monitoring and operations unit of the PPCRV Diocese of Butuan. — Ben Serrano/LBG, GMANews.TV