Town election official attacked in the Philippines

Manila - A town election official was shot by an unidentified gunman in the southern Philippines, three days before the scheduled national and local elections, a police report said Saturday.

Jay Actub Salinas was wounded late Friday in front of his home in Loreto town in Agusan del Sur province, 875 kilometers south of Manila.

Salinas has just delivered the memory cards of the vote-counting machines at the town elections office when he was attacked.

Police investigators said the victim was in stable condition and was being treated at a hospital in nearby Tagum City.

Police and soldiers have vowed to maintain order during Monday's elections, when more than 50 million registered voters are to choose the next president, vice president, 12 senators, more than 200 congressmen and nearly 18,000 local officials.

Dozens of people have been killed and injured since the campaign period started in January, but police said the toll was far lower than during the 2007 election, when more than 100 people were killed.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/322601,town-election-official-attacked-in-the-philippines.html.