EDITORIAL - Who killed Sabalones?

The big news that greeted us early Maundy Thursday was the death of self-confessed Cebuano drug lord Franz Sabalones, who was shot to death by a lone unidentified assailant in Manila where he was reportedly based since his release from police detention.

According to police authorities, Sabalones just arrived at a Quezon City billiard Hall from Cavite when the incident happened. He was about to enter the establishment when a car appeared. Its driver alighted and suddenly shot him in the head. He was killed on the spot.

Sabalones, report said, has returned to his drug trade following his release from police custody. He uses different aliases to protect his real identity. In fact, a fake identification card was recovered by police from his body after he was killed.

Authorities have yet to determine the motive and those responsible for Sabalones’ murder. However, based on previous incidents, police investigators would quick to blame conflict within the syndicate as cause for any drug suspect killed.

But many would also quick to point their fingers at the police as behind the killing of those drug suspects, especially now that the authorities were blamed for majority of the deaths in the government’s intensified war on illegal drug trade.

Of course, this is not to blame the police and the anti-drug agency for the rising cases of drug casualties. There are those killings in which drug syndicates themselves are the culprits due to internal conflicts.

Who really killed Sabalones? We don’t know. Only an investigation by the proper agency can answer. It is the job of the authorities to find the culprits. But the result of their probe should be credible enough for the public to believe.

It would need an impartial investigation for the public to know the truth behind Sabalones’ killing. If it’s proven that he had continued his business, then illegal drugs are likely the motive behind his death. As to who was responsible, that’s another story.