Before his death, Misamis Occidental mayor feared for life in police hands

David Navarro —NESTLE SEMILLA

ILIGAN CITY—Hours before he was killed in an ambush in Cebu City, Mayor David Navarro of Clarin, Misamis Occidental felt uneasy about his safety in the hands of police, his wife disclosed.

In a social media post, Misamis Occidental board member Elsa Navarro revealed that her husband texted his apprehensions around 5 a.m. Friday.

Navarro was ambushed around 2:30 p.m. Friday while en route to the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office for inquest proceedings in connection with his demeanor on Wednesday night inside a massage parlor along Fuente Osmeña Avenue.

In his text message, Navarro apologized for shaming Elsa and their family by physically abusing a masseur but said it was in response to a provocation which he did not elaborate.

He denied doing the other acts leveled against him.

He further said that he was set up and was being mulcted.

“I am sorry, I don’t know if I could still be alive in the hands of the police here in Cebu,” Navarro said in his long text message in Bisaya.

In Clarin, Misamis Occidental, the late mayor’s brother Dan, a former local politician, decried the allegations of Navarro’s involvement in the robbery and illegal drugs.

Dan told local media on Sunday, upon arrival of the mayor’s remains from Cebu, that official records do not support the claims.

Dan said that the Makati City Regional Trial Court Branch 3 has issued a certification that his brother has “no pending case/s” and was not included in a robbery case filed against the three suspects.

Dan also showed to the media a certification from the Department of Justice, dated July 25, 2018, certifying that the mayor has no pending cases before the agency.

The certification was requested by certain Sam Norman Fuentes, on behalf of Navarro.

Navarro’s younger brother also dispelled notions of the late mayor’s involvement in illegal drugs, saying he has been cleared of such accusations even at the time that Sen. Ronald dela Rosa was chief of the Philippine National Police.

Dan, who was appointed regional head of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority in Western Mindanao, pointed to a report of the Major Crime Investigation Unit (MCIU) of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) as having cleared Navarro’s name of drug links.

The MCIU report “surmised that Mayor Navarro was not directly involved in illegal drug trade..,” according to Dan.

Navarro was already included in President Duterte’s 2017 narcolist. And again, his name figured in a narcolist released by the Palace in March 2019, in time for the mid-term polls, in a bid to influence voting outcomes against supposed narco-politicians.

Two weeks prior to his death, Navarro talked to Duterte about his inclusion in the narco-list.

Last Sunday, Oct. 20, he told local media that the meeting was an indication the President saw his sincerity and truthfulness in denying his alleged involvement in crimes.