MANILA – The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) will investigate the assassinations of mayors Antonio Halili of Tanauan City, Batangas and Ferdinand Bote of General Tinio, Nueva Ecija.
Halili was killed on Monday during a flag-raising ceremony at Tanauan City Hall while Bote was ambushed while on board his vehicle on Tuesday outside the National Irrigation Administration in Cabanatuan City.
“I have now given direct orders to the NBI to investigate two murders in a row,” Justice secretary Menardo Guevarra said.
Known for parading suspected criminals on streets in an apparent shame campaign, Halili was himself linked to the illegal drug trade.
Bote, a member of the ruling party PDP-Laban, was repeatedly shot by still unidentified motorcycle-riding suspects.
He was taken to the M.V. Gallego Cabanatuan General Hospital where he was pronounced “dead on arrival.”
Meanwhile, the Commission on Human Rights raised alarm over the “string of violence” that led to the death of two local chief executives.
The Duterte administration must “act with a greater sense of urgency in protecting each Filipino’s right to life,” said spokeswoman Jacqueline De Guia.
“More so that, aside from local officials, priests, media workers and common Filipinos have been subjects of violence, often leading to their deaths,” said De Guia.
“At this point, the demand to deliver swift justice by making perpetrators accountable rings louder than before, as the cycle of violence and culture of impunity continues to worsen,” she added./PN
