Vice President Leni Robredo visits the wake of slain Calbayog City mayor Ronaldo Aquino at the Calbayog Sports Complex. Photo courtesy of the Calbayog City Information Office
TACLOBAN CITY –– Vice President Leni Robredo on Wednesday paid her last respects to the slain Calbayog City Mayor Ronaldo Aquino, whose remains lie at the Calbayog Sports Complex.
Robredo stayed for three hours and conveyed her condolences to the wife and children of the slain 59-year old mayor, said Raymund Ronald Ricafort, information officer of the Calbayog City government.
“She wanted her visit to be low key as it was a personal visit to condole with the family (of Mayor Aquino),” Ricafort said in a phone interview.
The Aquino family, he said, were “overwhelmed and grateful” by the vice president’s visit.
Both Aquino and Robredo are members of the Liberal Party.
Ricafort said Robredo arrived at the Calbayog Sports Complex around 9:30 a.m. and stayed until 11:30 a.m.
“There was no convoy and (additional) security,” Ricafort said.
In an earlier statement, Robredo condemned the killing of the Calbayog City mayor.
“We call for a clean, competent, and independent investigation into Mayor Ronald Aquino’s death and for his murderers to be brought to justice,” she said in the statement last March 9, a day after the mayor was killed. He was on his way to attend the birthday of his son, Mark.
Aquino will be buried on March 24 at the Calbayog Memorial Park. A day before the burial, his coffin will be brought to the City Hall for a necrological service.
Both the Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation are looking into Aquino’s slay.
Aquino was killed in what the Calbayog police said was a shootout between the mayor’s group and policemen belonging to the Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group and Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit (PDEU) last March 8.
Aside from Aquino, five others were killed, including his driver and police escort, two PDEU members, and a civilian who was hit by a stray bullet.