Map of Santander
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Commission on Elections in Cebu province (Comelec-Cebu) has ruled out for now the possibility that the recent strafing in Santander town could be an incident of election-related violence.
Lawyer Jerome Brillantes, acting provincial elections supervisor of Comelec-Cebu, said they could not conclude yet that the shooting incident involving a campaign vehicle in Barangay Talisay, Santander last Friday was related to the upcoming elections since a police investigation was still ongoing.
“Dili pa na siya maconsider as election-related kay naa pa tay ongoing investigation,” said Brillantes.
(We cannot yet consider this as election-related because there is still an ongoing investigation.)
The Comelec-Cebu official also said they were also waiting for the report from investigators that would identify the real cause of the crime.
Last Friday afternoon, May 6, still unidentified gunmen showered the vehicle, a pickup truck, with bullets while it was traversing the highway in Barangay Talisay, Santander town.
The driver, identified as Rad Andrade, sustained multiple gunshot wounds. As of Saturday, May 7, police said he was already in stable condition, but he was still confined in a hospital in Cebu City for his full recovery.
Andrade was with six other individuals in the vehicle, some of whom happened to be his relatives, during the incident.
The pickup truck they rode was bearing the posters of reelectionist Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia and outgoing Provincial Board member Cebu 2nd District Representative Jose Mari ‘Tata’ Salvador.
According to initial reports from the police, Andrade allegedly was involved in a ‘minor altercation’ shortly before the incident happened.
Santander is a fourth-class municipality located at the southernmost tip of Cebu island.
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/dbs