DAVAO CITY — The national president of the Vice Mayors’ League of the Philippines (VMLP), an organization of all vice mayors of cities and municipalities in the country, has called on the public to refrain in quickly linking the killings of vice mayors to President Rodrigo Duterte.
VMLP national president Donnabel Joy F. Mejia of Magsaysay, Davao del Sur on Saturday said “any official can be victim of a political feud,” adding that the cases on the slay of Trece Martires, Cavite Vice Mayor Alex Lubigan and Sapa-Sapa Tawi-Tawi Vice Mayor Al Rashid Mohammad Ali are isolated cases.
“Hindi maganda na i-connect siya with Digong kasi ang nangyari were only isolated cases (It is not good that we connect it to the President because the incidents were isolated cases),” she said.
Mejia said the murder of the two vice mayors could be related to politics in their respective towns.
“Iba yung nangyari sa Trece Martires, iba yung nangyari sa Zamboanga City (The incident in Trece Martires is different from Zamboanga City),” she said.
She added that officials could be victims of similar cases due to “political feud” in their areas and these could not be blamed to the President.
“When I went to Trece Martires, sinabi nga nu’ng asawa ni Vice Mayor Lubigan, sinakyan lang ito kasi may namatay (na) mayors. Parang sinakyan lang yung pangyayari (When I went to Trece Martires, the wife of Vice Mayor Lubigan said there are people riding on the issue because of the killings of mayors),” she said.
Mejia said even high-ranking local officials who were killed including Tanauan City, Batangas Mayor Antonio Halili and Gen. Tinio, Nueva Ecija Mayor Ferdinand Bote, had already received threats from their enemies.
She said the VMLP has already asked the Philippine National Police (PNP) for security detail but PNP chief Director General Oscar Albayalde advised vice mayors to hire private security personnel from an accredited agency.
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. (Armando Fenequito, Jr./PNA)
