Police listed at least 43 violent incidents across the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) since the implementation of the election gun ban for the Sept. 14 regional parliamentary elections.
However, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) considered only one incident election-related since the gun ban started on July 16.
Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia, who was here Tuesday for a meeting with police, military, and the security sectors in BARMM, said the Aug. 15 ambush of BARMM Interim Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua was considered related to the upcoming Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections (BPE).
As of Aug. 24, the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (PRO-BAR) listed 40 shooting incidents across BARMM, according to Capt. Steffi Salanguit, spokesperson for the PRO-BAR.
Not included in the list were the three gun attacks in Cotabato City, in Maguindanao del Norte, and in Maguindanao del Sur on Tuesday.
As of Monday, Maguindanao del Sur has recorded 15 gun-related incidents, followed by Maguindanao del Norte with 13, seven in Lanao del Sur, four in Basilan, and one in Cotabato City.
A solar energy worker was shot dead in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao del Norte, at 10 a.m. on Aug. 25, followed by a gun attack against a man in Barangay Kalanganan 2, Cotabato City.
In Datu Paglas, Maguindanao del Sur, a Barangay Peacekeeping Action Team (BPAT) member was shot by his elder brother after a heated argument.
“Most of these shooting incidents were due to personal grudges, clan feuds, robbery holdups, and those related to the illegal drug trade,” Salanguit said in a statement Wednesday.
As a result, 14 people were killed and eight wounded since July 16. (PNA)