DINGRAS, Ilocos Norte – A candidate for councilor in the May 10, 2010 elections was killed while six others, including two incumbent officials, were wounded when their convoy of four vehicles was fired upon by still unidentified gunmen in a pre-dawn ambush in this town Monday.

In Cotabato City, meanwhile, unidentified men lobbed and exploded a hand grenade in front of the home of Maguindanao Rep. Didagen Dilangalen shortly after 6 p.m. Sunday, but no one was reported injured in the explosion.

The incidents have heightened fears that political violence has started as the 2010 elections near, with authorities saying hundreds of thousands of loose firearms and other weapons could make the coming political exercise one of the bloodiest in the country.

Police identified the fatality in Ilocos Norte as Joen Caniete, chairwoman of Barangay Lanas in this town who was running for a council seat under the Nacionalista Party. She sustained multiple gunshot wounds and died on the spot.

Wounded in the attack were incumbent Ilocos Norte Provincial Board Member Robert Castro, incumbent Dingras Councilor Jimboy Albano, SPO2 Cesar Sabado, driver Joel Rosqueta, and civilians Fernando Sebastian and Gaudencio Teodoro.

Senior Supt. Benjamin Lusad, Ilocos Norte police director, said Caniete and company were part of about 50 individuals who just attended a Christmas party when their convoy was attacked along the road in Barangay San Esteban in this town before dawn.

Lusad said the gunmen’s faces were all concealed by bonnets.

It was learned that the convoy also included Barangay Captain Joefrey Saguid, a mayoral candidate of Dingras town under the Nacionalista Party.

Lusad said the first three vehicles of the convoy were sprayed with bullets by the gunmen.

“Our in-depth investigation of the incident is still going on to consider all possible angles, and to shed light on the real motives, suspects and mastermind of the incident,” Lusad said. “Our investigators are presently gathering the statement of witnesses,” he added.

The local police unit, the PNP Provincial Mobile Group and the Ilocos Norte police office are conducting a manhunt against the suspects.

Nacionalista Party president and standard bearer Senator Manny Villar strongly condemned the ambush and expressed sadness that such incident occurred although the campaign period for the May 2010 polls has not yet started.

Villar vowed that the Nacionalista Party would end the culture of impunity that has prevailed in the country since the restoration of democracy in 1986.

“We make this particular call in the wake of an ambush perpetrated by assassins on our party candidates in Dingras, Ilocos Norte,” Villar said in a statement.

“The culture of impunity which has enveloped our land, from the Mendiola and Hacienda Luisita massacres, to that of the Maguindanao massacre, has emboldened political opponents of the Nacionalista Party in Ilocos to act boldly and commit such a heinous act,” he added.

“The Nacionalista Party vows justice for the victims as we search for swift and comprehensive solutions to end political violence,” NP spokesman and senatorial candidate Gilbert Remulla said in a press statement.

In Cotabato City, the explosion created a three-foot hole in the fence surrounding Dilangalen's residence in Shariff Kabunsuan District, Barangay Rosary Heights 3, elements of the Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) said.

Quoting witnesses, police said the blast could have been caused by a hand grenade thrown from the outside.

Small neighborhood stores in front of Dilangalen's residence were also damaged, police reported.

"It was a very loud explosion; the ground trembled and shortly before the explosion, a motorcycle with two men on board was seen speeding away,” an investigator quoted a witness as saying. (With reports from Nonoy E. Lacson and Rolly T. Carandang)