MANILA, Philippines -- The family of slain former Sapang Dalaga Mayor Rey Yap wants the government to form a task force to expedite the solution of the case.

“I know the police is already conducting an investigation, but I think the creation of a Task Force that would be focused on the case is better,”

Yap’s brother, Roy, told Inquirer over the phone.

“It will resolve the case faster because they will be forced to really work to solve the case,” he said.

Yap was shot dead by a still unidentified gunman at about 9 a.m. on Jan. 29 as he was waiting on the fourth floor corridor of the Manila City Hall for the start of his murder trial.

“We urge the police to immediately arrest the gunman and the masterminds in the killing,” Roy added.

Yap’s remains was brought to his hometown Friday. It was accompanied by a convoy of supporters and family members from the Dipolog City Airport to Sapang Dalaga town in Misamis Occidental.

The former mayor will be buried in a private cemetery in Baliangao town on Tuesday at 9 a.m.

Apart from political vendetta, the Manila Police District is also looking into reports that the killing of Yap may be related to the alleged smuggling activities in Misamis Occidental.

Chief Insp. Dominador Arevalo, chief of the MPD homicide division, said there were unconfirmed reports that “there was a rivalry, apart from political, between the Yaps and the Cebedos … some sort of a territorial feud concerning smuggled goods in the province.”

Investigators are also eyeing the possible involvement of the New People’s Army in the killing.

Yap’s family, however, dismissed the smuggling rivalry and NPA angles and insisted that political vendetta was the motive behind the killing.

On the other hand, members of the Cebedo family, also denied involvement in the killing of Yap.