Abalos wants PNP-AFP teamwork to catch Mindanao exec, bodyguard killers

Department of the Interior and Local Government Sec. Benjamin Abalos Jr. answers questions from the media in a Palace briefing on Wednesday, June 5, 2024. Abalos Jr. ordered the Philippine National Police to coordinate with the Armed Forces of the Philippines to catch the suspects in the killing of South Upi, Maguindanao Del Sur Vice Mayor Roldan Benito and his bodyguard. Benito, his wife and two children, and Marcos were on their way home in Barangay Pandan, South Upi, at around 5 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, when attacked by unidentified gunmen. INQUIRER.net/Ryan Leagogo

MANILA, Philippines — Interior and Local Government Secretary Benhur Abalos Jr. ordered the Philippine National Police to coordinate with the Armed Forces of the Philippines to catch the suspects in the killing of South Upi, Maguindanao Del Sur Vice Mayor Roldan Benito and his bodyguard.

Abalos vowed that authorities “will leave no stone unturned until they have arrested the perpetrators and unmasked the masterminds.”

Abalos also expressed his sympathies to the families of Benito and Weng Marcos, the vice mayor’s bodyguard.

“I express my deepest sympathies and prayers for the families of Vice Mayor Benito and Weng Marcos,” he said in a statement Saturday.

“We also appeal to the public to contact the authorities if they have any information that can help resolve this case quickly,” he added.

READ: Vice mayor, escort, slain in Maguindanao del Sur ambush

Benito, his wife and two children, and Marcos were on their way home in Barangay Pandan, South Upi, at around 5 p.m. on Friday, when attacked by unidentified gunmen. Benito was driving the pick-up truck.

Benito and Marcos died while the vice mayor’s wife, Analyn, who is the chief of Pandan village, and their two minor children were wounded.

Authorities said the suspects fled to unknown direction after the ambush-slay.