MANILA, Philippines – The death of Robert Delano, chief of staff of Compostela Valley Rep. Manuel “Wai Kurat” Zamora, could be linked to a small miners’ issue in the province.

Supt. Franklin Moises Mabanag said they were giving more weight to this theory rather than Zamora’s group’s demand to oust Davao City congressman Rep. Prospero Nograles as Speaker of the House.

The head of the task force investigating the murder said: “We are giving more weight (to) the information that a controversy (involving) small miners group in the province was the reason for the killing rather than a paper supposedly circulating in the House of Representatives.”

An unsigned petition shown to the Inquirer asked for the removal of Nograles as speaker. The paper said a group supposedly headed by Delano was behind the move.

Mabanag said the “small miners” issue was reinforced by calls and messages in one of Delano’s cell phones. He said the calls were made hours after the murder on Wednesday.

“There were several phone calls with unregistered numbers in one of his cell phones even after he was killed,” Mabanag said. He said they were not able to access Delano’s other phone because it had a password.

Mabanag said a group of investigators would go to Compostela and talk to some of the personalities supposedly involved in the controversy. “We have to talk to these people who are supposedly part of the ongoing controversy involving the mining industry in the province,” Mabanag said.

The police official added that based on information from one of the witnesses, the gunmen received several telephone calls while waiting for Delano to leave his house. “Analyzing the flow of conversation, the gunmen were talking to someone not their equal as he was referred to as ‘Sir’,” Mabanag said.

He said the gunmen who acted as leader supposedly told the person on the other end that the victim had not come out of the house yet. “Wala pa po Sir, pero malapit na po Sir, lalabas na po yun,” Mabanag quoted the witness.

Supt. Lino Banaag, one of the lead investigators of the case who talked to Delano’s wife Marita, said the family did not know of anybody with a grudge against the victim. He said Marita was unaware of any death threats, and the victim did not mention any enemy.

Delano was shot Wednesday morning inside a blue Toyota Fortuner SUV with a Number 8 congressional plate in front of his house on K-3rd in Kamuning Quezon City by one of three armed men. He died an hour later at the Jose Delgado Memorial Hospital. Police believe hired killers were responsible for the murder.