That was fast and Ako Bicol Rep. Rodel Batocabe’s slay is now considered solved.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) should deserve kudos for quickly unravelling the pieces of evidence that pointed to the mastermind of Batocabe’s murder.

Also killed was Batocabe’s security detail, SPO2 Orlando Diaz. At least one gunman, Henry Yuson, confessed to being the killer of the late partylist lawmaker.

There are, of course, apprehensions about the PNP’s quick resolution of Batocabe’s assassination. But we will leave those for later pieces and if future developments can prove all these presented by the PNP are results of sloppy work and coverup. We can hope for the best, though.

PNP chief Director General Oscar Albayalde seems convincing with his unmasking of the mastermind in the Batocabe slay. He only had one primary suspect since Day 1 and zeroed in on him successfully.

He also presented on Monday evidence — the five slugs and 11 shells recovered from the crime scene that matched the caliber .40 pistol under Yuson’s name.

Now, who in his right mind would commit a crime using a registered gun under his name? Only Yuson probably, but that was what the ballistic examination conducted by the PNP Crime Laboratory Office shows.

It will take a lot for Yuson to deny or retract his admission of killing Batocabe now. The markings in the bullets used to kill Batocabe will be hard to dispute.

Yuson is among the six people allegedly tasked by Daraga Mayor Carlwyn Baldo to carry out Batocabe’s murder.

Yuson also earlier had admitted killing Batocabe. He pointed to Baldo as the one who ordered and funded the assassination.

Albayalde is convinced his officers have nailed the real suspects. We are, too.

Cases of double murder and six counts of frustrated murder were filed against Baldo and the other suspects. They will have to prove their innocence before the court and prove the investigators wrong in tagging them.

Baldo is crying as being used as a “convenient scapegoat.”

His political party, the Lakas-CMD, does not think so, though. Party officials also seem convinced he had tainted the party and decided to drop him from the family.

It seems as easy at that. But no, it’s not.

Batocabe’s assassination only proved the infantile state of the Philippine electoral process. The Lakas-CMD remains tainted even with Baldo out of its roster.

We have long heard about guns, goons and gold as the predominant instruments being used in Philippine elections and a century hence, since Filipinos learned to vote, they remain the most effective triumvirate in forcing elitist and dynastic control of our government.

Batocabe’s case was not the first and will not be the last.

It has been a cycle of murder, vote buying, fraud and everything illegal which have marred our elections since the year we learned to vote.

Maybe until after we mature as an electorate. But it will not happen in this lifetime.

It is said Philippine politics is beset by violence. We know this to be true, especially when another election season comes around.

We saw just how bloody it can get just before Christmas last year, when Ako Bicol partylist Rep. Rodel Batocabe was gunned down — possibly not because of his convictions, but allegedly because he posed a threat to a future rival in the upcoming local elections.

Having served three terms in Congress, Batocabe was all set to run for the mayoralty seat in Daraga, Albay, in May. He filed his certificate of candidacy in spite of his wife’s misgivings.

Perhaps Gertie had a good idea of the dangers posed in seeking such a position.

Rodel, however, believed it was time. One can tell from the work he did as a partylist representative that he had many ideas addressing certain issues of our time. I knew him from our college organization of Bicolanos. He was a go-getter, a doer and often came across as opinionated.

I am not surprised he became known, as one news report described, as “one of the more vocal partylist representatives in the 17th Congress, where he served as the partylist coalition president. He was vice chairperson of three major House committees, including the panels on Dangerous Drugs, Good Government and Public Accountability and Natural Resources.”

The causes he got involved in were filled with minefields — it takes guts to take strong stands or work toward fixing areas known to be the hotbeds of corruption.

Educated in economics, law and public administration at the University of the Philippines (UP)-Diliman, Batocabe was smart and street-smart, moving in a world where the good gets gobbled up pretty quickly, unless one has a strong enough core to survive, relatively unscathed.

Batocabe had an idea of the threats posed by his bid. Before he and his bodyguard were mercilessly gunned down, the lawmaker had “claimed that his opponents were using armed groups to influence the vote in May.”

Daraga Mayor Carlwyn Baldo has been charged for his alleged part in the murder. The six other suspects in the slay had all named him as the mastermind. A witness had recently even revealed to the Philippine National Police that the mayor had plotted to kill the former mayor of Daraga, but the latter passed away due to lung cancer before the deed could be done.

Baldo has denied any hand in Batocabe’s assassination, saying he was used as a “convenient scapegoat.”

The news nowadays is filled with surrenders and confessions from the suspects in the slay, which happened in broad daylight, with senior citizens around, during the season of peace and joy and on the target’s wedding anniversary.

Just thinking about the cold-bloodedness of it all sends a chill to my spine. If it isn’t the sheer brazenness of criminals nowadays, it’s the fact that these incidents have been happening too much that should alarm us.

Last year, an online news portal (Ajazeera.com, 18 May 2018) reported:

“The Philippines is notorious in Southeast Asia for its deadly political violence. But the deaths recorded this year were significantly lower compared with the last village elections in 2013 when 109 people were killed and 59 were injured.”

That was just the barangay elections. While the village level is indeed considered “crucial in determining who will win in the local and national elections in 2019,” as the same site said, it is a jarring reminder of the lengths some leaders may go in order to “serve the people.”

And if it isn’t the violence, it’s the sheer number of wannabes jockeying for positions of leadership and power that is rather alarming, in a way and starting quite early, with “386,206 (who) ran for leadership posts in nationwide youth councils” last year.

Violence often marks the campaign season and those who run for office know the risks posed by gunning for a seat. One could get gunned down gunning for a seat!

“Mayors, vice mayors and other local officials have been killed in ambushes in the last quarter of the year leading to the run-up of the midterm elections in May 2019,” another report said.

Ambition, ability and astuteness aren’t all a public servant wannabe needs to play in the political arena. He needs an armor.