Media on Elections and Violence 2016

LUZON

Northern Luzon

Scope and Time Frame

Monitoring incidents in Luzon began January 10, the start of election period and extended through the week of elections.

The police, in these monitored reports, have said that these were unconfirmed election-related incidents. A press release of the Philippine National Police Directorate for Investigation and Detection Management on March 17 stated that they are “conducting further validation and verification of all documented violence incidents since January to identify which among these cases are Election Related Incidents (ERIs).”

Media Reports on Election-related Violence

• In Luzon, the most number of monitored incidents reported were in Central Luzon (5), followed by Cordillera (4). Three cases were reported in the Cagayan Valley.
• The provinces with the most number of reported ERI cases were Isabela and Abra with three cases each; in Isabela, all incidents reported occurred in the remote town of Jones.
• The province of Abra, listed in the PNP watchlist as an “area of concern”, recorded three incidents in three towns: Tineg, Lagayan and San Juan.
• Based on PNP data of ERI cases, there were 25 incidents; only 12 were reported in the news, mostly if the incident involved deaths or injuries of victims.
• However, there were news reports of at least nine cases which may be considered as having the possibility of having been politically-motivated, but were not included in the PNP list of ERI.

PNP Data

The PNP kept tab of election-related incidents (ERIs) in each region through reports generated from police stations, but subject for verification by a “validation team” headed by the the PNP investigation and detection management regional chief.

Each case that is initially considered ERI at the police station level is submitted to the validation committee, which, in turn further studies the circumstances based on evidence gathered in the subsequent investigation, and makes the final ruling as to whether or not one case should be counted as ERI.

For a case to be considered an ERI, it must contain at least three elements: 1) it happened during the election period; 2) the parties involved may be government officials, political candidates, their families, or supporters; and 3) the incident disrupted the electoral process and create tension in a particular area.

For the PNP, unless the definition squarely fits each case, the incident will not be included as an ERI, regardless of the lack of a clear lead as to the perpetrator’s motive. On the contrary, any doubt follows a presumption that it is not an ERI.

Cases in point are four killings in Cagayan and in Abra. In one case, the PNP listed as ERI an April 13 shooting incident against campaign workers of a Liberal Party congressional candidate in Brgy. San Juan. The suspects were later identified and charged, which included one Rodelyn Umoquit, a political supporter of local candidates of the Nationalist People’s Coalition.

On June 6, or less than a month after the elections, Umoquit was killed by unidentified assailants, but the PNP did not consider his case as an ERI because supposedly because he was in the PNP watchlist for involvement in illegal drugs.

PNP data is likewise dependent on the availability of witnesses, their willingness to testify, and the presence of complainants who will pursue the case and prosecute the perpetrators.

The PNP did not include several incidents including the following:

1. The killing of one Leo Hermoso, a known local supporter of the Liberal Party in Buguey. Investigators said they cannot establish any lead in the case supposedly because family members and other witnesses refused to cooperate and provide information.
2. In Abra, the killings of a candidate for councilor in Baay-Licuan town and a barangay chair in Pidigan town.
3. As reported in the media, the killing of Crispin Maguelang, a candidate was killed in Malibcong town was by the New People’s Army rebels for alleged failure to pay “permit to campaign” fees. Senior Supt. Antonio Bartolome, Abra police director, clarified that Maguelang cannot be said to have been killed for “campaign fees” because at the time he was killed, he was in another town and was not on the campaign trail.
4. The March 12 killing of village council member Moises Duran in Barangay Garreta in Pidigan was also not considered ERI, Bartolome said, because based on subsequent investigation, the killers’ motive was business-related.

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