Iligan mayor freed, reports for work

ILIGAN CITY, Philippines – The mayor of this city has been released after more than a year in jail.

Mayor Celso Regencia reported for work shortly after he walked out of the Iligan City jail at around 8:30 a.m. yesterday.

Regencia also attended a mass at the St. Michael’s cathedral and then visited the tomb of his mother in Kolambugan town in Lanao del Norte.

In his speech before his supporters and city hall employees, Regencia said he was punished for a crime he did not commit.

Regencia was indicted for multiple and frustrated murder in connection with the ambush on the convoy of Iligan Rep. Vicente Belmonte at the Laguindingan airport in Misamis Oriental in 2014.

Belmonte was wounded and three of his aides were killed in the attack.

Regencia hid in various places in Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur and Zamboanga before he surrendered in October 2015.

In December, the Department of Justice granted the motion of Regencia and the other respondents to dismiss the case and ordered the withdrawal of the complaint filed before a court in Quezon City.

Belmonte could not be reached for comment by The STAR.