Mayors’ league seeks thorough probe into mayor’s killing

LINGAYEN, Philippines – The Pangasinan mayors league has condemned the killing of Infanta Mayor Ruperto Martinez, even as the group asked authorities to conduct a thorough investigation.

“We are saddened for we know him to be a simple and quiet man,” Dasol Mayor Noel Nacar, league president, said.

Pangasinan first district Rep. Jesus Celeste told The STAR that he wrote the chief of the National Bureau of Investigation in Dagupan City to conduct a separate investigation into the killing.

Celeste said he would also ask the police to provide security to the family of the slain mayor who have expressed fear for their lives.

Infanta Vice Mayor Virgilio Vallarta, who filed his candidacy as vice mayor with Martinez as his mayoral candidate, said he believes politics was behind the killing.