A candidate’s vehicle which was parked outside his house was strafed by still unknown gunmen in Candijay town at dawn on Sunday, a day before the national and local elections, police said.

According to Candijay Police Station chief Major Gerard Luna, the strafing happened while the vehicle’s owner, Anecito Calulo, a candidate for town councilor, and his family were still sleeping at 3 a.m.

Calulo, a first-time candidate under the slate of Abante Bohol’s Mayor Christopher Tutor, told authorities that he was awoken by loud noises in the wee hours but went back to sleep when he did not see anyone outside his house.

He only found out of the incident at past 5 a.m. when he was about to leave and saw the bullet holes in the strafed vehicle, a Toyota Hilux.

“Natog ni siya [Calulo] sa iyang kwarta na naa sa inner part sa ilang balay then ga boto-boto sa gawas gilili ra pud niya sa gawas pero ga aircon man siya mo wa siguro kaay ma klaro. Pag tan-aw niya na okay ra, balik siya og katog,” said Luna.

No one was injured during the incident.

According to Luna, the attack was meant to intimidate, not to injure or kill anyone considering that only the vehicle was strafed.

“Mura’g purely panghadlok lang ni kay ang igo sa sakyanan ra man,” said Luna.

There were five bullet holes in the pickup truck including one on the driver’s side, two in the left passenger’s side, one above the vehicle’s plate number and another in the left rear portion.

Police found at the crime scene fired cartridge of a caliber .9mm firearm and one fired cartridge of a caliber .45 pistol.

Luna said they were still conducting further investigations to determine the motive and the suspects behind the gun attack.

“Ato pa ning tan-awon kay kani siya before mura’g naa man ni siya sa munisipyo ga trabaho under sa mayor’s office. So far walay nadawat na threat before,” he added.

So far, this is the first reported possible election-related incident in the town of Candijay. (A. Doydora)