Congressman Rodel Batocabe was gunned down at a Christmas celebration on Saturday, the latest example that tragically, violence is still the language most often used in the pursuit of political power.
Batocabe had just finished handing out presents in the central town of Daraga, Albay, when he and his police bodyguard were shot dead by six gunmen.
The motive was not immediately clear, but authorities said they were looking into whether the killing could be politically motivated.
Batocabe, from the Ako-Bicol Party-list, had announced plans to run for mayor in Daraga in midterm elections in May 2019.
Elected to the House of Representatives in 2010, Batocabe had recently voiced concerns that rivals in the mayoral race were using armed groups to influence the votes. Now it seems those fears were well founded.
As one of the oldest democracies in Asia, the Philippines ought to have reached a level of political maturity where differences are settled by reasoned and civilized debate and free and honest elections. Yet, our elections continue to be plagued by intimidation, violence and poll fraud.
Over the years, several members of Congress have been attacked or murdered by suspected rivals.
Rep. Wahab Akbar of Basilan was killed along with two aides when a bomb exploded outside the House of Representatives building in November 2007. A year earlier, Abra Rep. Luis Bersamin Jr. was shot dead outside a church in broad daylight in Quezon City.
On Nov. 23, 2009, 58 people —including 32 journalists—were massacred in the town of Ampatuan in Maguindanao, in the worst election-related violence in the country’s history. Killed in the carnage were the wife and sister of Esmael Mangudadatu, who had the temerity to challenge the powerful Ampatuan clan in the gubernatorial race.
Over the last decade, hundreds of people seeking local elective positions have been killed every year,
In October, the Philippine National Police said it was monitoring 77 active private armed groups with 2,060 members with 1,574 firearms. There were also 226 inactive armed groups with 2,028 mebers with more than 1,000 firearms.
The prospects for a peaceful election in 2019 are grim indeed.
In denouncing Batocabe’s murder, Senator Grace Poe said “this sorry history in our nation of political violence must stop.”
That is a sentiment most of us share, but we realize, too, that reaching that goal will take more than words. Police efforts to seize loose firearms and to dismantle private armed groups are only part of the solution to a problem rooted in a culture that tolerates political patronage and violence. Only true political reforms—consistently enforced by strong leadership—can break this cycle.