Ronnie Valera —PHOTO FROM T-RADIO MATI
DAVAO CITY — Mayor Michelle Marie Denise Rabat of Mati City in Davao Oriental province has dangled a P500,000 bounty for the arrest of the killer of a barangay official in the city last week.
Rabat, the scion of one of the most prominent families of the province, said she decided to come up with the reward money to lure people to provide information to the authorities that would result in the arrest of the suspect in the killing of Matiao village chief Ronnie Valera on Maundy Thursday.
Rabat said the bounty was her personal funds, as she condemned the murder of Valera, who was among her supporters as she seeks reelection on May 9.
This developed as Davao Oriental Gov. Nelson Dayanghirang has formed a body that was ordered to fast-track the investigation on the killing of Valera.
“My instruction is, [at] the soonest time possible, the case must be solved,” said Dayahirang.
Among the members of the task force were the provincial office of the Philippine National Police, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, and the National Bureau of Investigation.
Treacherous
Rabat told the Inquirer earlier that she was helping the Valera family seek justice as “he was shot treacherously while resting.”
The victim, based on the report of the police, was resting on his hammock at the back of his house in Purok Matahimik-1 when the killer shot him in the back.
Although investigators were still looking into the motive of the crime, Rabat said they told her that among the angles was politics.
The city has not been identified by the police as an election hot spot.
Rabat said she met with the victim and other village chiefs just hours before he was murdered.
“That is why it (the killing) came as a shock because you don’t see in his face that he was troubled,” the mayor added.
Rabat further said that Valera also told some people about the conflict between him and several of his relatives.
Rabat confirmed that Valera was a relative of another murder victim, Danilo Lumikid Jr., who was shot dead in Manay, a town about 70 kilometers from Mati City, on April 1.
Valera even visited the wake of Lumikid, a political vlogger who was facing cyberlibel charges filed by several members of the Dayanghirang family.
RELATED STORY:
Davao Oriental political vlogger shot dead