CIDG probes Cagayan lawmaker aide’s slay

TUGUEGARAO CITY, Philippines – Agents of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) are investigating the murder of a Cagayan lawmaker’s aide amid speculations that the incident was politically motivated.

Senior Superintendent Froilan Perez, CIDG director for Cagayan Valley, said they are trying to identify the suspects and determine the motives for the killing of Gyorgy Tong, who was shot dead here last Thursday.

Tong is the chief of staff of Cagayan Rep. Randolph Ting.

Perez told The STAR they lack witnesses and evidence that could help them identify the assailants and the mastermind, as well as the motives in Tong’s murder.

The Tings claimed politics may have something to do with the killing, which came on the heels of the ouster of Mayor Jefferson Soriano by the Office of the Ombudsman.

The complaint against Soriano was filed by Ting’s sister, city Councilor Maila Ting-Que. Both are children of former mayor Delfin Ting, whom Soriano defeated in last year’s elections.

In her complaint, Que questioned Soriano’s approval of the operation of a flea market and carnival without authority from the city council.

Perez said there is no basis yet that Tong’s killing was connected to the political tension between the opposing camps.

 Soriano, a former police general, urged his supporters and his political rivals yesterday to stay calm amid the tensions brought by his ouster and Tong’s murder.

Tong had just dropped his children off at school when he was waylaid in Barangay Ugac.