Aquino to visit wake of slain Calbayog mayor

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines—President Aquino is expected to visit Calbayog City on Thursday to pay his respects to murdered mayor Reynaldo Uy, a political ally and a party-mate.

The President is expected to arrive at the Calbayog city airport in the morning and will motor his way to the city sports complex where the remains of the 59-year-old slain mayor lie in state.

On Wednesday, Police Director General Raul Bacalzo arrived in Tacloban en route to Calbayog to assess the investigation on the Uy murder.

While the President has ordered the police to solve the crime, there was no pressure for them to solve the killing immediately, Bacalzo said in a brief interview at the Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport in Tacloban City.

“We’ll check the (ongoing) investigation. This is just an ordinary investigation. I understand the police regional director (Chief Superintendent Arnold Revilla) is attending the case very closely,” Bacalzo said.

Uy was gunned down last Saturday inside a covered court in Hinabangan town in Samar while attending a cultural program that was part of the town fiesta celebration on Sunday.

The Liberal Party has offered a cash reward of P200,000 to encourage witnesses to identify the lone gunman, who used an M-16 in killing Uy, a former congressman of Samar.

While the police have yet to establish the motive of the slaying, they have considered politics as a possible motive.

Samar Governor Sharee Ann Tan, a known political nemesis of the victim, earlier urged police authorities to hasten their investigation as she denied their family’s involvement in Uy’s killing.