THE number of killings blamed on politics is fast rising in Nueva Ecija, Central Luzon’s acknowledged food basket.
From May 2013 to October this year, 21 politically motivated executions have been carried out by guns-for-hire, or the now popular “riding-in-tandem killers,” causing the death of 14 individuals and serious wounding of seven others.
The victims are all local politicians ranging from city and town councilors to barangay officials and plain local government employees.
Former National Unity Party Rep. Rodolfo Welborn Antonino of Nueva Ecija noted the rising political violence: from the incident on May 26, 2013 involving the killing of one Kagawad Nick Apan of General Licarte, Llanera, this rose to eight incidents in 2014 and then to 14 riding-in-tandem attacks as of October 2 this year.
“In short, we have a serious peace-and-order problem in my province all on account of political competition,” the three-term congressman pointed out in the forum Balitaan, hosted by the Capampangan in Media Inc. and Clark Development Corp. at the Bale Balita inside the Clark Freeport in Pampanga.
And should this worsening pattern of violence remain unabated, Antonino said he would have no option but to seek the declaration of the province as a “hot spot” by the Commission on Elections come next year’s elections if only to ensure the safety of the voting public and those involve in the political contest.
Military personnel are usually assigned to areas declared as hot spots to keep the peace during elections.
Nueva Ecija has long been plagued by a peace-and-order problem, coupled with the widespread poverty and misplaced priorities in governance, Antonino admitted, adding these were exactly the reasons that prompted him to throw his hat into the gubernatorial race in 2016 against the wife of graduating Gov. Aurelio Umali of the Liberal Party.
The template he would apply province-wide if elected as governor, he said, is what he pursued to improve the lot of his mostly farmer constituents in his district as congressman from 2004 to 2010.
Antonino has coalesced with the province’s known political leaders behind Nueva Ecija’s homegrown political group, the Balane Party, organized by the Joson clan, and with the United Nationalist Alliance of Vice President Jejomar C. Binay, to improve his fighting chance against the entrenched Umali political group.
In concrete terms, Antonino said that once elected governor, he would initially build a blockade against smuggled onions and garlic that are dumped in Nueva Ecija by traders in order to depress the prices of home-grown onions and garlic, a practice that has continuously adversely affected the farmers in the province.
He would also put a temporary stop on the use of mechanized harvesters during the palay harvest seasons to protect the interest of farmworkers and, at the same time, institute measures to help the farmhands acquire new skills in making a leaving.
Antonino said that many farm workers have been continuously displaced during crop seasons because of the growing mechanization of harvesting and other farm activities, although, he acknowledged that this trend would eventually lead to the growth of agriculture in Nueva Ecija and the rest of the country.
The crafting of a medium-to-long- term development plan for Nueva Ecija is also on the priority list of Antonino, one of the sons of the late senators, Gaudencio E. Antonino Sr. and Magnolia W. Antonino.