Cavite exec tagged in vice mayor’s slay loses mayoral bid

TRECE MARTIRES CITY — Independent candidate for mayor Lawrence Arca, who was tagged in the killing of a vice mayor in Cavite province, lost to re-electionist mayor Reynaldo Rillo of Maragondon Cavite.

Rillo was proclaimed winner with 11,799 votes against Arca with 10,639.

Arca, who was a Maragondon municipal councilor, ran for mayor at the height of the investigation into the July 2018 ambush of Trece Martires City vice mayor Alexander Lubigan.

The police said Lubigan’s killing was politically motivated and charged this city’s mayor Melandres de Sagun and Arca, along with three others.

The Department of Justice, however, cleared de Sagun but found probable cause to indict Arca as an accessory to the crime.

Arca had earlier posted bail, which allowed him to campaign for mayor of Maragondon.

Maragondon was tagged as an election hotspot. (Editor: Leti Boniol)