No poll rivalry in 19 villages in Samar town

Philippine News Agency (Sep 12, 2023): No poll rivalry in 19 villages in Samar town (By Roel Amazona)

RIVALRY. A community in the remote village of San Roque in Matuguinao, Samar in this Sept. 9, 2023 photo. The New People’s Army (NPA) is trying to regain control of an upland village by convincing someone whose daughter is an active armed rebel to seek a village chief post. (Photo courtesy of Mayor Aran Boller)

TACLOBAN CITY – Candidates running in 19 out of 20 villages in the remote town of Matuguinao in Samar are running unopposed in the upcoming Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE).

Matuguinao Mayor Aran Boller said in a phone interview Tuesday that this is in response to his call to decide one candidate for village chiefs and youth council chair, and only six bets for village council.

“Before the filing of certificates of candidacy, I gathered all village post aspirants and asked them to determine how they can make the forthcoming election peaceful and free from any form of violence,” Boller told the Philippine News Agency (PNA).

“Our local officials formed a Unity Team to make sure that the upcoming local elections is peaceful with only one candidate for chairman per village,” he added.

Of the 20 villages, only Barangay San Roque has two bets for village chiefs – one is the father of a soldier, and his rival is the mother of a member of the New People’s Army (NPA).

Boller said the strategy is an attempt of the NPA to regain control of an upland village by convincing someone under their influence to seek a village chief post.

Boller identified the candidate as Juana Loyogoy, the mother of an active NPA combatant. She filed her certificate of candidacy on Sept. 2.

She is running against Santos Verano picked by the Unity Team to be the candidate for village chief. Verano’s son is one of the troopers of the Philippine Army.

San Roque village is near the border of Northern Samar province and one of the villages the NPA is attempting to regain control.

Meanwhile, Samar police provincial director Col. Peter Limbauan said they will still deploy additional police forces to Matuguinao even if almost all candidates have no rivals.

“There is a security threat in the area. We will deploy more police there but we will focus on communities with security threats,” Limbauan said in a phone interview.

He said they still have no list of specific villages that can be considered areas of concern because it is still in the validation process.

Matuguinao is a fifth-class town with a population of nearly 8,000.

At least 12 of its 20 villages are formerly NPA-influenced areas.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1209724