Killing of antidynasty advocate big question mark

DINGALAN, Aurora—A caretaker of Maligaya Resort unlocks the gate of the premises. He untangles the wires that serve as a double lock of the gates.

“I’m just guarding against another (case of) trespassing,” Ramon Grevialde said.

On Nov. 7, resort owner Quintin “Ting” San Diego was shot by two unidentified gunmen in the resort in Barangay Caragsacan here around 3:30 p.m.

San Diego sustained multiple gunshot wounds in the head from a 9-mm pistol and died on the spot, according to police reports. He was 74 years old.

He was the founding chair of Movement Against Dynasties (MAD) and a proponent of the Million People March in August 2013, which sought the abolition of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), a pork barrel and source of kickbacks for legislators. The Supreme Court declared the PDAF unconstitutional in November 2013.

He also opposed the Aurora Port and Economic Zone, the brainchild of the Angaras, who have controlled the province for decades.

“His death is a big question mark,” a colleague said.

On Wednesday, Grevialde was the only one of the four resort staff members left manning the 2-hectare property. The others left after the fatal shooting of San Diego.

The caretaker now carries a bolo for protection.

Maligaya resort is now closed. The scene of the crime is still covered with blood and the 58-year-old caretaker has drained the water from the pools.

Outing

Grevialde, who has been working for San Diego for 20 years, said his employer was in town because he had wanted to take his staff to the beach before traveling abroad.

“It was the first time he was taking us on an outing so I was excited. I was busy painting the rooms so I could finish my tasks early and head to the beach. That was when he was shot,” Grevialde tearfully recalled.

San Diego was kind, but he also used a firm hand for his employees when needed, Grevialde added.

San Diego, or “pare” to his friends in the municipal office, was a kind man with Spanish features and a knack for real estate.

“He’s good at choosing land,” said a colleague, who declined to be named.

The resort in Caragsacan is on a mountaintop overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It is decorated with statues of Snow White’s dwarfs and “crazy tiles” (different pieces of cut and recycled ceramic tiles).

The road to the resort was already under construction, and San Diego was planning to put a hanging bridge over the river.

He also had property by the beach in Barangay Matawi, about 7 kilometers from the town proper. San Diego developed the property before reselling it.

San Diego is from Quezon City. His interest in real estate brought him to southern Aurora.

Mayoral candidate

In 2001, he became a mayoral candidate in Dingalan. Even though he lost the race, he lobbied for making the town a “peace zone” in 2003. He also worked pro bono as tourism consultant of the municipality in 2008.

Police are looking into a land dispute in Nueva Ecija province and the refusal to pay revolutionary tax to communist rebels as possible motives in the killing of San Diego, a police official said.

The Central Luzon police director, Chief Supt. Rudy Lacadin, said San Diego owned various properties, including a farm in Bongabon, Nueva Ecija, and the fledgling resort in Aurora where he was killed.

Lacadin said a special investigation task group looking into the case was studying the murder angle “involving properties,” based on statements made to police by San Diego’s property custodian.

Revolutionary tax

Asked if this was related to reports that the communist New People’s Army had been hounding San Diego for revolutionary tax, Lacadin said: “That’s it. According to his [property caretaker], there were demands.”

Lacadin said San Diego was in Aurora to supervise the construction of his resort in Barangay Caragsacan.

The gunmen arrived at the resort at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, posed as customers and inquired about rates and facilities.

San Diego had just met with his workers and was walking back to his cottage at Maligaya Resort when he was approached and shot in the head by two still unidentified men.

Lacadin said a composite facial sketch of the gunman was expected to be released Wednesday.

Lacadin did not dismiss other angles in the murder, as police have yet to speak with members of San Diego’s family in Quezon City who were unavailable because they were attending to his wake.

Asked if San Diego’s campaign against political dynasties could have led to the attack, Lacadin replied, “I don’t think so.”

Signature campaign

San Diego and his group MAD had been seeking signatures to pass an enabling law banning political dynasties through a people’s initiative.

MAD launched the campaign in February 2013 at Baclaran Church, aiming to get 5.2 million signatures, the minimum requirement of Republic Act No. 6735 or the People’s Initiative and Referendum Act, to adopt a law making Section 26 of the 1987 Constitution enforceable.

The constitutional provision prohibits political dynasties but no law in the last 25 years was passed to make it operational.

In a 2013 interview, San Diego told the Inquirer: “The Supreme Court, for lack of an enabling law, has thrown out cases that asked the disqualification of some members of political dynasties. The incoming Congress still has many members of political clans. The way to go is still through the initiative petition.”

He said dynasties were denying equal opportunities to all, control resources and worsen corruption and poverty.

“[The existence of dynasties] restricts democracy,” he added.

His friends and colleagues created a page on Facebook, called “Justice for MAD Chairman Ting San Diego,” to seek justice for his death.