‘No Palace link to slays’

The national president of the Vice Mayors’ League of the Philippines has called on the public to refrain from linking the killings of vice mayors to President Rodrigo Duterte.

“Any official can be a victim of political feud,” said VMLP national president Donnabel Joy F. Mejia of Magsaysay, Davao del Sur.

She cited the slaying of Trece Martires, Cavite Vice Mayor Alex Lubigan and Sapa-Sapa Tawi-Tawi Vice Mayor Al Rashid Mohammad Ali which she said did not reflect on the entire country.

“It is not good that we connect them to the President because the incidents were isolated cases,” she said, adding the murder of the two vice mayors could be related to politics in their respective towns.

“The incident in Trece Martires is different from Zamboanga City,” she said.

“When I went to Trece Martires, the wife of Vice Mayor Lubigan said there are people riding on the issue,” she said.

Mejia added even high-ranking local officials who were killed including Tanauan City, Batangas Mayor Antonio Halili and Gen. Tinio, Nueva Ecija Mayor Ferdinand Bote, had also received threats from their enemies.

She said the VMLP has asked the Philippine National Police (PNP) for more security detail but PNP chief Director General Oscar Albayalde advised the vice mayors to hire private security personnel from accredited agencies.

Mejia, however, said she will still submit the VLMP proposal to the Office of the PNP Chief, knowing the security risks that high-ranking local officials are facing.