Mayors seek dialogue with Duterte after killings

MANILA, Philippines — Through the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP), mayors have sought a meeting with President Duterte to seek assistance amid safety concerns following the murders of two mayors this week.

LMP president Mayor Ma. Fe Brondial of Socorro, Oriental Mindoro said yesterday that their group sent a request to Malacañang for a meeting with Duterte to air their concerns over the spate of killings of local officials.

She said some of the 1,491 mayors belonging to the LMP have been accused of involvement in illegal drugs and expressed fear over Duterte’s narco list that includes officials involved in either protecting drug lords or directly involved in peddling drugs.

“Our mayors on the list are now more afraid,” Brondial told radio station dzMM.

Brondial said she would ask Duterte if it is possible to reinstate the supervision of the police to mayors with suspected links to illegal drugs.

Eduardo Año, officer-in-charge of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), said 42 mayors in Duterte’s narco list were stripped of their supervisory powers over local police.

Brondial said the mayors included in the list have vehemently denied their involvement in illegal drugs.

Mayor Antonio Halili of Tanauan City, Batangas was shot dead by a sniper during the flag-raising ceremony at the municipal hall last Monday morning. No suspect has been arrested.

Duterte had accused Halili of involvement in illegal drugs but the mayor and his relatives denied the allegations.

On Tuesday, unidentified men on board a motorcycle gunned down mayor Ferdinand Bote of General Tinio, Nueva Ecija. The suspects escaped after the incident. However, the police ruled out illegal drugs as among the motives in Bote’s killing.

Año pointed out that Bote is not included in the narco list. Brondial condemned the killings, saying local officials implicated in illegal drugs and other irregularities should be charged in court.

“It’s not right to just kill them. We have courts, there is the ombudsman and the DILG where complaints can be filed against mayors,” she said.

Police probers are also investigating reports that Sidik Amiril, an assemblyman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) who survived an ambush last Monday in Davao City, was included in the narco list of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

Amiril reportedly has a house in Barangay Cabantian in Davao and the still unidentified suspects followed him to the area.

The suspects, on board a silver van, blocked Amiril’s vehicle and fired on the victim and his companions.

Amiril was immediately rushed to the Davao Doctor’s Hospital for treatment.

10 mayors killed

At least 10 mayors and four vice mayors have been killed since July 2016 when President Duterte assumed office.?Año encouraged all the mayors getting death threats to seek assistance from the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).?

He said that out of the 1,300 mayors nationwide, 10 were killed, including three local executives allegedly involved in illegal drugs, four others slain due to political rivalry and two more for personal reasons.

Año said keeping death threats to themselves would not help the local executives keep safe and solve the problems, especially those whose names were included in the narco list.?

The DILG chief said the coordination between police or NBI and local government officials included in the narco list will allow authorities to establish factual information to address security concerns.?Año said 42 mayors included in the narco list have been informed about being linked to illegal drugs and their supervisory powers over the local police have been removed.

Aside from the mayors, over 1,000 other local government officials like vice mayors, barangay chairmen and councilors were named by PDEA as having links with illegal drug operations.?

Other mayors killed since July 2016 include Buenavista, Bohol mayor Ronald Lowell Tirol, who was shot inside the town’s cockpit arena on May 27, 2018; and Ozamiz City mayor Reynaldo Parojinog and 14 others, including his wife Susan, brother Octavio Jr. and sister Mona, in a police raid on July 30, 2017.?

Mayor Leovino Hidalgo of Balete, Batangas was shot on June 10, 2017; Bien Unido, Bohol mayor Gisela Bendon-Boniel was killed on June 7, 2016; mayor Arsenio Agustin of Marcos, Ilocos Norte was shot in his town on June 3, 2017.?

Pantar, Lanao del Norte mayor Mohammad Exchan Limbona was ambushed in Iligan City on Dec. 29, 2016; Albuera, Leyte mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. was killed in a reported shootout inside his jail cell at the Leyte Sub-Provincial Jail in Baybay City on Nov. 5, 2016 and Datu Saudi Ampatuan mayor Samsudin Dimaukom was killed in a shootout with policemen on Oct. 28, 2016 in Makilala, North Cotabato.?

The vice mayors killed include Ronda, Cebu Vice Mayor Jonah John Ungab on Feb. 19, 2018 along S. Osmeña Street, Cebu City; Roxas town, Oriental Mindoro’s Jackson Cinco Dy, gunned down on Sept. 22, 2017; Datu Saudi Ampatuan’s Anwar Sindatuk in Maguindanao on Nov. 26, 2016.

Pamplona vice mayor Aaron Sampaga was killed on Aug. 5, 2016 in Cagayan province and Pamplona vice mayor Aaron Sampaga on Aug. 5, 2016 in Cagayan province.?Most of the killings were perpetrated by unidentified gunmen.?

Año noted that attack on the mayors does not necessarily mean they were involved in illegal drugs. “If you’re doing really well, many will plan to harm you, especially the criminal underworld,” said Año in English and Filipino.?The DILG chief said there are mayors who refuse to cooperate with the authorities.  – With Cecille Suerte Felipe, Edith Regalado