Relatives say Halili not a drug lord
BATANGAS – “My father was not a drug lord.”
Angeline Halili, daughter of slain Tanauan City mayor Antonio Halili, also claimed that the drug allegations against her father were all hearsay and had not been backed by any evidence.
“President Duterte was fed with false information about my father’s alleged involvement in narcotics,” she told reporters yesterday, holding back tears.
Her reaction came after Duterte slammed the late mayor, claiming that the latter pretended to be an anti-illegal drug crusader to cover up his supposed drug activities.
“Actually, I understand what the President said because he hears the same thing from those around him and something you always hear sticks to your mind up to the point that you will believe it even if it’s not true,” she said in a mix of English and Filipino.
“I’m inviting the President to live with us and observe, so that he will know our way of life and for him to see that we’re living honestly and simply,” she added.
The late mayor and his family, she said, had tried hard to sway their constituents from illegal drugs through programs promoting sports, education, free medicine and cultural festivals.
“We were trying to give them a better future. We’re fighting for the people and my father had been living for the people,” she said. “We’re honest people. We’re not going to destroy other people’s lives.”
The mayor’s remains have been brought to his residence in Barangay Sambat in Tanauan for public viewing.
Meanwhile, a source who requested anonymity said the autopsy conducted by the Philippine National Police (PNP) showed that Halili was hit in the heart while fragments of the bullet damaged his internal organs.
The fragments have been submitted to the PNP regional crime laboratory at Camp Vicente Lim in Calamba, Laguna, the source said. The make of the gun used by the hit man will also be determined at the crime laboratory.
Vice mayor takes over
Vice Mayor Jhoanna Corona-Villamor is taking the helm at city hall after the killing of Halili last Monday morning.
According to Joseph Soriano, local government operations officer of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) here, the replacement is provided for by law.
Villamor, 30, served as councilor from 2010 to 2013 before being elected vice mayor.
She is the daughter of Alfredo Corona, incumbent board member of the 3rd district of this province and former mayor of Tanauan, who was unseated in 2006 after the Supreme Court (SC) declared his rival Sonia Torres-Aquino as the rightful winner.
Replacing Villamor as vice mayor is her uncle Benedicto Corona, first councilor of Tanauan. The Corona brothers are first cousins of the ousted and late chief justice Renato Corona.
This movement leaves one seat vacant in the city council.? ?According to the DILG, the replacement will be named by the highest official of the political party to which Corona belongs.In 2016, the Coronas of Tanauan ran under the Liberal Party. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe
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