High alert up for village, SK polls as PNP watches NPAs

(Update) The Philippine National Police was placed on the highest security alert Sunday ahead of nationwide village elections, which authorities fear could be disrupted by communist guerrillas backing candidates in the polls, officials said. About a million candidates are vying for nearly 672,000 posts in 42,000 villages in elections Monday that could be marred by pockets of violence and fraud, police said. Ahead of the balloting, communist New People's Army guerrillas abducted a candidate for village leader in Basey town in the central Philippine province of Samar. The candidate, Elizabeth Gutierrez, who was abducted Wednesday, was running against a relative of a rebel commander, police said. A former rebel also aspiring to become a village head was killed by suspected communist gunmen last Monday in Villareal town, also in Samar, about 600 kilometers (375 miles) southeast of Manila, police said. Director-General Avelino Razon Jr, National Police chief, said the 120,000-strong force was placed on full alert to guard against violence and fraud. Police commanders have been ordered to stop any attempt by communist rebels to use force to ensure the victory of sympathetic candidates, he said. ''Our intelligence assessment indicates a massive effort by the CPP-NPA and its legal front organizations to field sympathetic candidates in the elections in order for the movement to regain lost ground,'' Razon said in a statement, referring to the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the NPA. In a sprawling region south of Manila, the guerrillas were covertly backing 28 candidates, including 22 who were running to become village heads, Razon said. Rebel support in some areas was being given to candidates who pledged to reject the establishment of military outposts in their communities, he said. Village officials, elected to three-year terms, play a vital role in the government's counterinsurgency campaign. Communist guerrillas have considerable public support in 2,224 far-flung villages and were taking steps to expand their influence in 5,600 others, according to police estimates. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has repeatedly said she wants to end the communist rebellion - one of Asia's longest - by 2010, when her term ends. The 6,200-strong rebels have been fighting for a Marxist state for 39 years and have stepped up raids on police and military outposts as well as commercial establishments in recent months. The country's elections commission has been hit by recent corruption scandals. Its chairman, Benjamin Abalos, resigned on October 1 amid allegations he tried to bribe a Cabinet official and a businessman to ensure the approval of a major Chinese telecommunications contract, which has since been scrapped by Arroyo. Old poll woes Complaints about violations of the liquor ban and basic "how-to" questions dominated the initial batch of calls received by the Comelec hotlines on the eve of the village and youth council elections. In its Web log, the Comelec said that as of 7:30 p.m., its hotlines received several calls since they started operations at 2:15 p.m. Sunday. "As of 5:30 p.m. today, the Hotline has received 66 calls on queries ranging from really basic things (when, where, how to vote) to reports of violations. All calls have so far been from the NCR (Metro Manila) and surrounding provinces," it said. Comelec hotlines are 5259294,5259295, 5259334, 8270821, and 5275574. Those who report violations are referred to the Election Officer with jurisdiction, and the hotline will follow up the concern with the election officer concerned. Other concerns are endorsed to the appropriate Comelec department or deputized agency for action. Earlier, Comelec said majority of the calls dealt with reports of violations of various election bans, particularly the liquor ban. "We take down the details of the complaints and coordinate with the appropriate Comelec deputy; for liquor ban violations, for instance, we sic the Philippine National Police on ‘em," Comelec said. - GMANews.TV with a report from AP