As the May 2013 poll nears, the number of politicians in Western Visayas claiming to have received death threats is also on the rise, according to Chief Supt. Agrimero Cruz, Jr., director of Police Regional Office (PRO) 6.

He said, most of them are from the provinces of Negros Occidental and Iloilo but he declined to give the estimated number.

“Basta may iilan. Karamihan mga mayors. Meron ding mga congressmen at governors,” he said.

Allegedly, they received threats through letters, text messages, and even calls. 

Consequently, “humihingi po sila ng security detail dahil nga po sa mga bantang ito sa kanilang buhay,” Cruz said.

PRO6 sources said that at least 55 politicians in Western Visayas have asked to be given police escorts.

“We take all these threat reports seriously. Hindi po natin ito isinasantabi. We are verifying all reports that we received,” Cruz said. 

However, he declined to elaborate further on their threat assessment claiming that it’s part of police operational data.

Relatedly, since threats would employ goons and guns, Cruz said that intelligence operatives are already alerted for the presence of guns-for-hire.

Hired killers would likely to be employed considering that police have not monitored the presence of active private armed groups (PAGs) or private armies, he added.

For now, Cruz advised politicians to report any threat on their safety and to take extra precautions.*