No indication Bukidnon shooting is election related: PNP
Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Dionardo Carlos said there is no indication that Tuesday's shooting incident in an event joined by presidential aspirant Leody De Guzman in Bukidnon is election related.
During the ''Laging Handa'' public briefing Wednesday, Carlos said De Guzman, who just happened to attend the event, was not the target.
"We haven't seen any indicator or indication that would say that this is connected with the election because those who went there, they are concerned with a property under contest," he added.
However, contrary to the claim of senatorial candidate David D'Angelo of Green Party of the Philippines who were present, Carlos said based on initial investigation the shooting was perpetrated by the guards in the plantation and not by government or military forces.
"We assure them that this is going to be a continuing investigation because there is an incident that happened but we are looking at it for the meantime as an isolated (case). It has no connection to the presence of a presidential candidate," he said.
In a separate interview, DILG Undersecretary for Operations Epimaco Densing III stressed the importance of the involvement of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NICP) in the investigation.
"It is better to have a clear investigation and let us involve the NCIP because it is the agency that manages the lands of our indeginous people," he said.
"Let's investigate properly so that we will know the real story, because these are just allegations being used in politics," he added, following the claim of the members of the Manobo - Pulangiyon tribe that their ancestral land was illegally grabbed by Mayor Pablo Lorenzo III.
The shooting incident happened while the members of the Manobo - Pulangiyon tribe were asserting their right to their ancestral land in an event with De Guzman and senatorial aspirant Roy Cabonegro of Makakalikasan, and D'Angelo in the vicinity of Barangay Butong, Quezon, Bukidnon province on Tuesday.
According to the Facebook post of De Guzman, several members of the tribe including the local organizers of the farmers and the leader of Manobo-Pulangiyon were injured. Robina Asido/DMS
