No destabilization in LGU slays – NBI

MANILA, Philippines — The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has not established any link between the recent spate of killings of local officials to a supposed destabilization plot against the administration of President Duterte, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra disclosed yesterday.

Guevarra said the NBI did not establish any connection between the murders last week of mayors Antonio Halili of Tanauan, Batangas, and Ferdinand Bote of General Tinio, Nueva Ecija , and of vice mayor Alexander Lubigan of Trece Martires, Cavite.

“Initial findings of the NBI show that the incidents seem to be unrelated,” Guevarra declared in a text message.

Guevarra earlier tapped the NBI to check if the three killings followed the same pattern and sought immediate results from the bureau.

He said he wanted the bureau to specifically determine if the three cases could be part of a reported destabilization plot against the Duterte administration.

But the justice chief stressed that the probe on this angle yielded negative results.

The preliminary findings of the NBI seemed to support the results of a separate probe conducted by the Philippine National Police (PNP).

Police had said that Halili’s murder could be related to the illegal drug trade while the killings of Bote and Lubigan might have political motivations.

Malacañang, meanwhile, yesterday allayed fears that the successive killings of local executives would be used by President Duterte to impose martial law nationwide.

Halili, who made headlines because of his shame campaign against drug suspects, was gunned down during a flag ceremony last July 2.

He was one of the politicians in the list of officials with alleged links to drug syndicates, but his family and supporters insist the mayor was not into the narcotics trade.

A day after Halili’s assassination, Bote was killed in Cabanatuan City. Lubigan was ambushed by unidentified gunmen four days later.

The opposition Liberal Party (LP), through its president Sen. Francis Pangilinan, has expressed concern over the killings, saying they could be used by the administration to impose martial law in the Philippines.

But presidential spokesman Harry Roque clarified that the killings cannot be used to place the country under military rule.

“Senator Pangilinan is a lawyer himself. He should know that even if there is lawlessness there cannot be a nationwide imposition of martial law,” Roque said at a press briefing.

Roque noted that martial law could only be declared if there is a rebellion or invasion.

“Regardless of the number of killings, if there is no rebellion or invasion, there would be no basis to declare martial law in the entire Philippines,” the spokesman said. – With Edu Punay, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Paolo Romero