ILOILO – The assassination of two Luzon mayors that President Rodrigo Duterte linked to illegal drugs has unnerved Iloilo mayors similarly accused.
According to Mariano Malones of Maasin and Sigfredo Betita of Carles, the successive killings on Monday and Tuesday were upsetting. Both, however, won’t seek security assistance from the police or military.
“Even if you are fully guarded if it’s your time to die, you’ll die,” Malones told Panay News.
He and Betita vehemently denied having links to illegal drugs either as pusher, user or protector. Both were among the several local government officials Duterte named and shamed in August 2016.
“Wala ako sala sa gobyerno kag sa pumuluyo ko. I honestly serve the people of Maasin. I have no illegal activities, especially illegal drugs,” said Malones.
Mayor Antonio Halili of Tanauan City, Batangas was shot while attending his local government’s flag-raising ceremony on Monday morning outside the city hall.
Mayor Ferdinand Bote of General Tinio, Nueva Ecija, on the other hand, was attacked on Tuesday afternoon while on his way out of the National Irrigation Administration office in Cabanatuan City.
Malones and Betita believed the killings were not related to illegal drugs but to politics.
“This makes the situation more worrisome. Quarters with sinister agenda, including politicians, may use the illegal drug issue as cover to advance their own interests,” said Betita.
The mayor said he does not believe the assassinations were state-sponsored.
The government has a thorough validation process that clears the innocent, he stressed,
Maasin was declared cleared of illegal drugs late last year.
Other Iloilo mayors that Duterte linked to illegal drugs two years ago were Jed Patrick Mabilog of Iloilo City, Alex Centena of Calinog
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque confirmed to Panay News in January this year that Malones and Centena have been cleared by “police agencies.” He also defended their entry to the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino – Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban).
A relieved Malones told Panay News, “I know that the truth would prevail.”
He and Centena took their oath as new members of the party on Jan. 18.
“Their names [were] cleared before they were allowed to take their oath as PDP-Laban [members],” said Roque.
Malones believed the police and the President were fed with false information about him and that this was “politically motivated.”
“We will not unknowingly allow any drug lord to join the administration (party),” stressed Roque.
No less than House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, secretary general of PDP-Laban, administered the two mayors’ oath.
“Our enemies in politics wanted to ruin my name. They refused to accept the truth that the people of Maasin believe and love me,” said Malones.
The Maasin mayor previously said he was told that “no one could issue us a clearance because the allegation made against us was merely verbal, there were no documentary proofs.”
“Tinaga man lang, so sa tinaga man lang kami mabawi eh,” said Malones.
Centena, on the other hand, told Panay News he knew he would eventually be vindicated “because I’m not guilty, my conscience is clear.”
“I have never associated with drug personalities. Ngaa higkuan ko akon ngalan tungod sang druga? Maayo na akon pangabuhi,” said Centena, a businessman with interests in agriculture and construction.
With Roque’s latest statement, the mayor said, “Daw nakuhaan ako sang tunok.”
“I know the truth will prevail. Sa kadugay ko na sa politika bag-o lang na-involve ngalan ko sa ilegal kag sa druga pa,” said Centena.
Like Malones, he suspected that a “political enemy” maneuvered to link him to illegal drugs.
“All issues hurled against me by my political enemy are hearsay and not true,” Centena said./PN
