IMPUNITY Ruben Sabia, bodyguard of Mulanay Mayor Joselito Ojeda, lies dead on the road after he was shot by two gunmen. —PHOTO FROM THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL POLICE
LUCENA CITY — The mayor of Mulanay, Quezon province is demanding the immediate replacement of the town’s police chief after the killing of his security escort which he said was just one of many cases showing a breakdown of peace and order in the town.
“What is happening now in our peaceful town?” Mayor Joselito Ojeda said in a phone interview.
Police said the victim, Ruben Subia, was on his motorcycle when he was gunned down by two unidentified men on another motorcycle in the village of Sta. Rosa on Saturday.
Appeal to DILG, PNP
Ojeda blamed the breakdown of peace and order in his town on the local police force.
“I don’t even know the policemen assigned to our town,” Ojeda said.
“They are all busy performing tasks not related to maintaining peace and order,” he said.
The mayor asked Interior Secretary Eduardo Año and Philippine National Police chief Director General Oscar Albayalde to immediately replace Chief Insp. Joselito Araja as Mulanay police chief.
He also called on Quezon Gov. David Suarez to help appoint a dedicated officer as police chief of his town.
He said he had requested Araja for a meeting at the
mayor’s office “but I was ignored.”
Aguirre escorts
Ojeda said since Araja was assigned to Mulanay on May 8, the police chief has yet to meet with him.
Araja, in a phone interview, confirmed that he has yet to see Ojeda because he was busy performing his tasks as police chief.
Ojeda alleged that Araja and the local police force were busy acting as security escorts of former Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II and his close relatives.
Araja denied the accusation.
Since last month, at least two killings took place in Mulanay, a coastal town.
Unsolved cases
Last week, Felix Moldon, reelected council member in the village of Sta. Rosa, was killed while waiting for a ride on the roadside.
Early last month, motorcycle-riding men also shot and killed the then incumbent chair of Cambuga village, Domingo Ruedas.
Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez, House minority leader, slammed Aguirre for attributing the killings to politics.