Village official shot dead in La Union — police

A barangay kagawad (village councilor) was shot dead Wednesday morning in La Union province in northern Philippines, a police spokesman said Thursday. Franklin Bambico, councilor of Bariquir village in Naguilan town, was shot dead in front of the barangay hall by two men on board a motorcycle at about 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr., the Philippine National Police spokesman. “[Bambico] was rushed to the nearest hospital for medical treatment but was declared [dead on arrival] by the attending physician," Cruz said. Cruz said it is still early to conclude that Bambico’s killing was politically motivated. "[The] case is under investigation," he said. Bambico won in the October 25 nationwide barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (youth council) elections. At least 47 election-related violent incidents were reported on that day, but both the police and the military described the conduct of elections as "generally peaceful." The Philippines experienced its worst election-related violence on Nov. 23, 2009, when a convoy, on its way to file the certificate of candidacy of a gubernatorial aspirant in Maguindanao, was massacred by men associated with a powerful political family. At least 57 people, 32 of them journalists, were killed in what is now known as the Maguindanao massacre. Over 100 people, including members of the powerful Ampatuan clan, are facing multiple murder charges for the mass slaughter. — KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV