A Filipino Catholic priest who is running for governor of the central Philippine province of Samar accused political rivals of having a hand in the killing of a supporter on April 29.
"Some of my active leaders and campaign organizers are being threatened by armed men, obviously to dissuade them from supporting me," said Msgr. Walter Cerbito.
One of the priest's supporters, Emil Go, was shot dead on April 29 by still unidentified gunmen.
Cerbito said only his political rivals "who are threatened by my candidacy" can possibly benefit from "such evil acts."
"I worry so much for my supporters who already aired concern for their lives because of the incident," said the priest who resigned as vicar general of the Diocese of Catarman last year to run for public office.
Cerbito's political rival, incumbent Gov. Jun Ong, denied allegations linking him to the killing of Go.
Ong said Cerbito and his supporters are "worse than traditional politicians" for invoking Christian doctrines and the church in "propagating mountain of lies to deceive the people."
