DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 30 April) — A candidate for provincial board member of Davao del Norte survived a shooting incident outside his residence in Tagum City Tuesday evening, police said.
Audrie Perez, who is vying for a seat in the provincial board in Davao del Norte’s first district, was driving toward home in Delfina Village, Barangay Magugpo North aboard his motorcycle when the suspect approached and shot him, hitting him in the neck, according to Brig. Gen. Leon Victor Rosete, chief of the Police Regional Office – Region 11.
The 43-year-old candidate is the chief of staff of Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez, of the first district of Davao del Norte.
Rosete told reporters at Camp Quintin Merecido grounds here on Wednesday that five empty shells believed to be from a caliber .45 pistol were found in the crime scene.
Asked if the incident was election-related, Rosete said that “they are still investigating the motive of the incident.”
But he disclosed that possible motives would be “personal grudges or financial debts.”
Perez is now confined at the Tagum Doctors Hospital while the police continues with the investigation to determine the motive and the identity of the suspect.
“We will focus investigation on this case to serve justice against the persons behind this,” Rosete said.
The police official assured politicians, Commission on Elections officers, electoral staff, and other concerned citizens that they will be safe come midterm elections on May 12.
“We have all-out deployment of police forces in full swing, and strengthened our operations against loose firearms to eliminate possible violence as election time approaches,” Rosete>
Meanwhile, in a separate interview, PRO-11 spokesperson Catherine dela Rey said they already monitored two election-related incidents, but did not disclose which provinces or cities these incidents are.
Despite this, Dela Rey said that the Davao Region is still in “green category,” or having no areas of concern.
“Nothing to worry about as Davao City is generally peaceful and we will be maintaining the peace, until the D-day, the election day, and days after that,” Dela Rey said. (Ian Carl Espinosa / MindaNews)