The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) will now conduct an investigation on the deaths of Tanauan City Mayor Antonio Halili and General Tinio, Nueva Ecija Mayor Ferdinand Bote.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said he has given direct orders to NBI Director Dante Gierran to commence the probe.
“I have now given direct orders to the NBI to investigate two murders in a row, of Mayor Halili of Tanauan City and of Mayor Ferdinand Bote of General Tinio, Nueva Ecija who was reportedly ambushed this afternoon,” Guevarra said.
The NBI is an attached agency of the Department of Justice (DOJ). The order was issued after Guevarra talked to Gierran on Tuesday evening.
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A team of agents already went to Tanauan in Batangas and met with several city hall officials to gather information that would help identify Halili’s killer, believed to be a sniper, and determine the motive behind the killing.
They interviewed officials and conducted an ocular inspection of the site where the alleged sniper was positioned at the time of the killing. /ee