Employees appeal for prayers for recovery of shot DILG-Calabarzon director

LUCENA CITY – The employees of the Department of Interior and Local Government in Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) appealed to the public to join them in prayers for the speedy recovery of their top official now fighting for his life in a hospital after surviving a slay try.

In the Facebook page of DILG IV-A, an appeal for prayers was posted on Monday, within hours after the shooting of Renato Brion in front of a building where their office is located.

The message reads: “We humbly ask everyone to be one with the DILG family in praying for the safety and immediate recovery of DILG IV-A Regional Director Renato “Rene” L. Brion, CESO III. Let us storm heaven with prayers!”

The post was accompanied with a photo of clasped hands in prayers laying atop an open book that looked like the Holy Bible. Text in the photo read: “Prayers for RD Rene…”

“We are asking all other employees of DILG especially in the region to join us in our prayers for the speedy recovery of our RD (regional director),” Eloisa Razul, chief of DILG-Calabarzon local governance capability development division, said in a phone interview on Tuesday morning.

She said the operation of DILG-Calabarzon remained normal but they decided to cancel their Christmas party.“In respect to our RD, no more celebration for us,” she said.

Brion, 60, remained in intensive care unit of the Calamba Medical Center after he was shot by an unidentified gunman in Calamba City in Laguna province, early Monday.

READ: DILG regional director shot, in critical condition in Laguna

According to police reports, Brion had just gotten out of his car and was about to enter the DILG office at the Andenson building in Barangay Parian when he was shot several times by a lone gunman.

Brion’s wife and his driver who remained inside the car were unhurt. After the shooting, the suspect escaped on foot.

The Philippine National Police has created Special Investigation Task Group Brion (SITGB) to dig deeper into the attempted slay, particularly on the alleged threats against Brion prior to the shooting.

Supt. Chitadel Gaoiran, the designated SITGB spokesperson, said they were looking at all possible motives, including Brion’s role in the suspension order on dismissed Makati Mayor Junjun Binay last March.

As former regional head of the DILG in the National Capital Region, Brion served the suspension order to the defiant mayor.

Razul meanwhile said she was not aware of any threat against Brion.

Razul described Brion as a “very good superior and a workaholic.”

DILG Calabarzon is now being headed by its assistant regional director, Aries Iglesia, according to Razul.

President Aquino has ordered the DILG to offer a P2-million bounty for any information that would lead to the arrest of the suspects behind the shooting. CDG