Two soldiers and one communist rebel were killed Friday in two clashes in the Philippines as the country prepared for national elections next week, the military said, according to dpa. One soldier was killed when guerrillas attacked an army team transporting machines to count the votes on May 10 in Mati City in Davao Oriental province, 990 kilometres south of Manila. Two troops were also wounded in the attack, army Captain Emmanuel Garcia said. "They were fired upon by the rebels and our troops fought back," he said. "Whatever was the intention of the guerrillas, they were not able to lay their hands on the machines." Garcia said the optical scanning machines were safe and eventually delivered to the precincts. In the eastern province of Samar, about 10 guerrillas opened fire on a team of soldiers securing a village in Matuginao town for Monday's elections, triggering a clash. Army Lieutenant Colonel Armand Rico said one soldier and one communist rebel were killed in the firefight, while another soldier was wounded. Rico said additional troops were dispatched to hunt down the rebels. Nearly 18,000 positions are up for grabs in the elections on Monday, including president, vice president, hundreds of legislators and thousands of local officials. The military and police were earlier placed on red alert in a bid to thwart any attempts by armed groups to disrupt the voting and to guard against violence among rival politicians.
