DILG: ‘12 mayors, 7 vice mayors slain in 3 years’

MANILA, Philippines — At least 12 mayors and seven vice mayors have been killed under President Duterte’s administration, an official of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) told the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs yesterday.

DILG Undersecretary Bernardo Florece Jr. noted that the Philippine National Police (PNP) recorded the 19 cases from July 2016 to Jan. 29 this year.

Florece said six of the cases were considered solved, while the others remained under investigation. He added that he would submit to the committee the list of slain councilors and barangay officials.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson, committee chairman, said the significant increase in the number of victims of election-related violence has become very alarming, the latest of whom was Ako Bicol party-list representative Rodel Batocabe last Dec. 22. 

“As a result, we are all here today to assess and discuss possible legislative measures or amendments to our existing laws in response to our concern at hand,” Lacson said.

For his part, Sen. Paolo Benigno Aquino IV told the DILG and PNP to submit a complete list of slain local government officials from 2010 to 2016 and from 2016 to the present for comparison.

“Please submit the statistics of all political killings. It may not be campaign-related but basically, all killings that transpired over the past three years,” Aquino said.

“Of course also include the list of congressmen, councilors and barangay officials. Also a separate list of slain relatives and aides of local government officials,” Aquino added.

In the same hearing, Lacson’s committee ordered the PNP to turn over to the National Bureau of Investigation the investigation report on the killing of Richard Santillan, a security aide of lawyer and senatorial candidate Glenn Chong.

But the PNP in Region 4-A maintained that Santillan was killed in a legitimate police operation.

Chong, a former representative of Biliran, contradicted the PNP’s position, citing the result of the autopsy by the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO), which alleged that Santillan’s corpse bore signs of torture.

“The disadvantages (of having the crime laboratory under the PNP) include the fact that the integrity of the result of their investigation could be questioned, while its advantage is easy coordination,” Chief Superintendent Rolando Hinanay of the PNP Crime Laboratory said.

PAO chief Persida Acosta said she welcomed the proposal to have an independent forensic service.

Acosta added that the scene of the crime operatives must inhibit from the case to prevent suspicions of conflict of interest and bias.

Meanwhile, lawmakers said they were worried over the withdrawal of their security detail.

An administration lawmaker yesterday questioned the rationale behind the Comelec’s order pulling out their police escorts ahead of the May 13 elections.  – With Mayen Jaymalin, Delon Porcalla, Emmanuel Tupas