Pangilinan: Ecija mayor’s killing ‘reminder of breakdown of law and order’

Gen. Tinio Mayor Ferdinand Bote was riding in this vehicle when it was attacked by motorcycle-riding men in Cabanatuan City on Tuesday afternoon.
(Photo by ARMAND GALANG / Inquirer Central Luzon)

The killing of another mayor, Ferdinand Bote of General Tinio, Nueva Ecija, was a “wrenching reminder of the breakdown of law and order in our country.”

Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan said this on Tuesday as he condemned the “vicious” killing of the mayor.

READ: Nueva Ecija mayor dead in ambush

Police said Bote was killed in an ambush in Cabanatuan City around 4:50 p.m. this Tuesday.

“I condemn the vicious killing of Mayor Ferdinand Bote of General Tinio, Nueva Ecija,” Pangilinan, president of Liberal Party, said in a statement.

The senator described Bote as a “humble, hard-working, and upright public servant.”

“This incident, coming a day after the killing of Mayor Antonio Halili of Tanauan City, is a wrenching reminder of the breakdown of law and order in our country,” Pangilinan said.

On Monday, Halili was gunned down by still unidentified assailant while he was singing the national anthem during the flag ceremony at city hall.

“This administration ran on a strong anti-crime platform, but two years after, what we see instead is widespread criminality, lawlessness, and corruption,” Pangilinan added. /atm