Batocabe was on his last term as congressman and had filed his candidacy for Daraga mayor, challenging Baldo and the vice mayor in the May elections. This makes the murder a case of election-related violence, and it won’t be the last in this election season. The country’s worst case of election violence – the massacre of 58 people in Maguindanao – took place in 2009, but justice has yet to be rendered. If it takes a decade for the courts to resolve such a heinous crime, it can only embolden politicians to keep resorting to murder as an ideal tool for eliminating rivals. Authorities know which are the so-called hotspots for election violence in this year’s polls.

Source: Philippine Star January 04, 2019 16:38 UTC