Househelp of Batangas mayoral bet killed – police

Armed men strafed the house of a mayoral candidate in Batangas province a day after the May 10 automated elections, killing the politician’s househelp. Two motorcycle-riding men fired shots at the house of Dr. Zenaida Mendoza, who is running for Talisay mayor, in Barangay Quiling, the police said Tuesday. The mayoral aspirant was not in the house when the shooting happened. Her caretaker, Leonardo Dahil, was injured and rushed to the hospital where he was declared dead on arrival. In a phone interview with GMANews.TV, Senior Inspector Ferdinand Ancheta, chief of the Talisay police, declined to say if the attack was politically motivated pending further investigation. Mendoza is neck and neck with his closest rival in the mayoral race. As of 9:30 a.m., data culled by GMA Network from 80 percent of all elections returns in Batangas show Mendoza has garnered 8,332, while rival Luis Malaban got 8,650 votes. The shooting prompted the police to deploy two security details to each candidate. Ancheta said the policemen would only be recalled if the threat on the candidates is no longer there. Meanwhile, some 300 supporters of vice mayoral candidate Gerry Natanauan gathered outside the capitol hall in Talisay for a prayer vigil. Some 40 policemen were deployed to monitor the situation and keep any untoward incident from erupting, Ancheta said. The partial and unofficial tally of GMA Network showed Natanauan leading the vice mayoral race with 8,553 votes.—Mark Merueñas/VS, GMANews.TV