Labor leader Leody DeGuzman during the Makabayan Coalition Miting de Avance in Quiapo on May 7, 2019. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News/File
MANILA — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said on Thursday it was investigating a shooting incident that injured 5 people during the Bukidnon visit of presidential candidate Leody De Guzman
Comelec Commissioner Aimee Ferolino is in charge of the investigation, as the vice chair of the Committee on the Ban on Firearms and Security Concerns, said Commissioner Marlon Casquejo.
Ferolino headed the panel after the resignation of Commissioner Socorro Inting in protest of her colleagues' move to authorize Chairperson Saidamen Pangarungan to issue gun ban exemptions and place areas under Comelec control.
“It is under their jurisdiction and now they are conducting an investigation on that matter,” Casquejo said in an interview on ANC's "Rundown."
Labor leader De Guzman and Senate bets Roy Cabonegro and David D’Angelo were discussing land-grabbing issues with Manobo-Pulangiyon leaders in Bukidnon, when the shooting happened on Tuesday. Four members of the indigenous people's group and a volunteer advocate were injured.
Malacañang has condemned the incident and urged authorities to conduct a "thorough investigation"
The Philippine National Police said, however, that the shooting was “isolated” and that it was “premature” to tag it as election-related.