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Monday, November 12, 2007
Poll exec killing may be work-related
ILIGAN CITY -- The killing of lawyer Alioden Dalaig in Manila Saturday night could be related to a local contest in Lanao during the May 14 political exercise, several sources said.
Dalaig is director of the law department of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), the section of the poll body that handles electoral cases.
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The sources refused to be named "because of the sensitivity of the matter."
One source said the speed or delay in the resolution of poll cases like protests is largely attributed to how the law department disposed of them.
One party could have been aggrieved by how the local contest turned out, the same source said.
Dalaig was shot dead outside the Casino Filipino in Manila on Saturday night. His money and other valuables were left intact.
Police in Manila are facing a blank wall on the identity of his killer and the motive for the killing.
Chief inspector Alex Yangquiling, Manila Police District (MPD) homicide division chief, complained that officials and employees of the Casino Hyatt Hotel refused to cooperate and furnish them a copy of the videotape that could show the identity of the gunman.
Yangquiling said the victim was a regular player at the Casino Filipino.
Since nothing was taken from Dalaig, Yangquiling said they've ruled out robbery as an angle.
Dalaig's wife Filomena told reporters in Manila that her husband had been receiving death threats from anonymous people through his mobile phone.
Yangquiling said they would be questioning Dalaig's co-workers at the commission on Monday to get some background on the poll official's work.
James Jimenez, spokesman for the Comelec, said Dalaig's body had been brought to Marawi City on Sunday morning, where he would also be laid to rest.
Recalling the years he worked with Dalaig, Jimenez said the victim was a staunch defender of the election body.
"He (Dalaig) is a big loss for the Comelec," added Jimenez.
Starting out as a junior lawyer of the Comelec, Dalaig had been with the poll agency for over three decades.
At the height of the infamous "Hello, Garci" controversy, Dalaig admitted having figured in the wiretapped conversations with former Comelec Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano.
He was the first Comelec official to have done so. His admission was later followed by that of Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm) Comelec Regional Director Ray Sumalipao, who was then the provincial election supervisor of Lanao del Sur.
Dalaig the second official of the COmelec main office to be murdered. In November 2001, Comelec Education and Information director Velma Cinco was also gunned down by two motorcycle-riding men.
Cinco was on her way to the Comelec main office when she was killed.
Dalaig was in the list of nominees for the vacant commissioner post submitted to Malacañang. (Lino dela Cruz/Richel V. Umel/MSN/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Manila. (November 12, 2007 issue)
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