Justice-seeking widow fights political clan patriarch in Cavite

CALL FOR JUSTICE Gemma Lubigan (left), widow of Trece Martires City Vice Mayor Alexander Lubigan, and Annabelle Guillemer (second from left), widow of the vice mayor’s driver, accompany policemen in filing murder and frustrated murder charges against Mayor Melandres de Sagun in the Department of Justice in Manila. —GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

SAN PEDRO CITY – In an unexpected turn of events, the widow of slain Trece Martires City vice mayor Alexander Lubigan is up against the patriarch of one of the dominant political clans in Cavite province.

Clad in blue, Gemma Lubigan on Tuesday filed her candidacy for mayor of the city. She was accompanied by supporters led by incumbent Cavite Governor Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla and his brother former governor, Jonvic Remulla.

Gemma is running under the Nacionalista Party.  

The ambush of the vice mayor on  July 7  drove Gemma into the limelight.

She was seen in press conferences, wearing black as she vowed to find justice.

Murder case



In September, Gemma announced she was willing to run in place of her husband.

The police who described the killing as politically-motivated filed murder charges against the incumbent mayor, Melandres de Sagun, who is on his last term.

The de Saguns have since denied the accusation and early on have announced their plan to field Melandres’ wife, Aiza.

But on Monday, it was Melandres’ father, Melencio de Sagun Jr., 63, who filed his candidacy instead under the Aksyon Demokratiko party.

“It’s our party’s decision,” said the mayor’s chief of staff Raymund Eguillos, although he did not say if this had anything to do with the murder case.

Melencio, the family’s patriarch, is a former mayor of the city and has kept long the de Saguns in power.

Independent candidate Denver Colorado is also gunning for mayor of the capital town of Cavite.