Mayor on slain assassin’s hit list

SAN PEDRO CITY — In a case that offers a glimpse into what could be a pattern in drug-related killings, the mayor of a town in Rizal province demanded answers from police after his picture was found on a slain suspected assassin along with those of two other officials who had been killed after they were linked to the drug trade.

Mayor Raul Palino, of Teresa town, Rizal, sought a “revalidation” of President Rodrigo Duterte’s list of local officials involved in drugs after a suspected drug hit man was found in possession of the mayor’s picture and those of six other officials of the town. Two of the officials had been killed and their pictures were found marked with “X.”

Palino said he believed there was a link between the drug list that included him and whoever was plotting to have him killed.

Slain hit man

On July 31, alleged hit man Rodel Borromeo, 30, was killed in a police chase in the village of May-Iba in Teresa.

According to police reports, authorities had been alerted against suspicious-looking men on a motorcycle casing the village. Police approached the men but were fired upon. Borromeo was shot and fell off the motorcycle as the driver sped away.

Senior Supt. Albert Ocon, Rizal provincial police director, said investigators recovered Borromeo’s sling bag that contained a piece of paper cut lengthwise with pictures of seven officials of Teresa town.

Aside from Palino, the other officials with pictures in the slain suspected hit man’s bag were Vice Mayor Jose Jeriel Villegas, councilors John San Jose, Howard Francisco, Buboy Selibio, village chief Dexter Zapanta, all from Teresa. Also found was a picture of Joseph Javier, village chief from Morong town.

The pictures of San Jose and Zapanta were marked with an “X.” It apparently meant the success of a hit job on them. Both were on the police drug list and are already dead.

San Jose and wife, Ma. Theresa, were shot dead by motorcycle-riding gunmen on May 22 as they were on their way to attend a daughter’s graduation rites.

On July 17, Zapanta was gunned down in front of a day-care center in the village of San Gabriel in Teresa town.

Search for answers

In an interview on Saturday, Palino said he had “heard before” that he was on the police drug list “but never took it seriously until the pictures came up.”

His name never came up publicly when Mr. Duterte earlier announced a list of government officials, judges and policemen involved in the drug trade.

Palino said aside from him and the six officials, also on the police drug list was Eric Francisco, village chief of Dalumbayan, Teresa. All the officials belonged to the Liberal Party, which had been in power under former President Benigno Aquino III but which Duterte officials now accuse of taking part in a plot to oust him.

Palino, who denied any involvement in illegal drugs, has been demanding answers from regional and provincial police officials since the pictures turned up. He also met with Director General Ronald dela Rosa, Philippine National Police chief, on Aug. 7.

“I learned that the information (linking us to drugs) had come from the Isafp (Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines),” he said.

Ocon, the Rizal provincial police director, said he had recommended that the names of the Teresa town officials be removed from the “PRRD (President Rodrigo Roa Duterte) list” but deleting names from the list had to be approved by “higher headquarters.”

Asked about the murder cases of San Jose and Zapanta, Ocon said these were already “cleared,” meaning police had identified and filed charges against the suspects, who are still at large, however.