Before Sen. Panfilo Lacson opened his mouth that the government could have been behind the killing of Tanauan, Batangas, Mayor Antonio Halili, he should have looked into the vengeful nature of the Batangueño.
Lacson was implying that President Digong could have been responsible for Halili’s assassination because the Chief Executive said the mayor was involved in drugs and that he probably had it coming.
For a Duterte administration ally, Lacson’s statement carried a lot of weight.
Knowing Digong, he would not take Ping’s broadside sitting down.
The senator from Cavite should have taken into consideration that Halili, his longtime friend, incurred many enemies among his constituents in Tanauan and other people in Batangas.
Halili was known for parading drug and other crime suspects in the streets of his city in what has been known as “walk of shame.”
The mayor was most probably killed by one of the people he shamed in public.
Vendetta is a natural phenomenon in Batangas, as in other parts of the country.
In Batangas, particularly when a man gets killed, his relatives don’t go to court to bring his assailant to justice.
They will accept settlement money from the assailant and use that money to buy a weapon with which to kill the assailant.
In Batangas, pride is as valuable as life itself. Halili hurt many people’s pride with his walk of shame.
(As an aside, I was a fan of Halili in his campaign against drugs and criminality.)
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Lacson’s theory that since a sniper with a high-powered gun was used, the implication is that the killer could have been a government agent or an assassin hired by a well-financed criminal group.
Lacson could be right about a hired assassin, but could be wrong about a government agent.
There are now many hired guns that are experts in shooting from a distance. They could have been former soldiers or civilians who are rifle enthusiasts.