Mayor tagged in Batocabe slay pleads for fairness

Daraga Mayor Carlwyn Baldo (Photo from his Facebook account)

DARAGA, Albay — Daraga Mayor Carlwyn Baldo on Friday appealed to President Rodrigo Duterte for a chance to answer all accusations against him in connection with the murder of Ako Bicol Rep. Rodel Batocabe and his police escort, SPO2 Orlando Diaz.

“Every person has in his favor the presumption of innocence which the Bill of Rights guarantees,” he said.

Baldo, in a press conference on Friday, also asked the President for help to keep his family safe as he expressed fear that the accusation against him would endanger their lives.

“I am asking that the lives of my family would not be placed at risk,” Baldo said.

Mastermind?

Baldo, who is seeking reelection in May, was tagged as the mastermind in the killing of Batocabe and Diaz who were gunned down during a Christmas gift-giving event in Daraga on Dec. 22 last year.

Even before suspects Emmanuel Rosello, Rolando Arimado, Christopher Naval, Henry Yuson, Jaywin Babor and Danilo Muella were taken into custody by police, Baldo had been alluded to by supporters of Batocabe as the one who ordered the killing of the lawmaker.

The arrested suspects pointed to Baldo as the brains behind the murder of Batocabe.

Along with his appeal to Mr. Duterte, Baldo gave assurance that he would face head-on all the accusations thrown against him in court.

Worried

Baldo called for a press conference following reports that a local court in Albay province had issued a warrant against the mayor to allow investigators to search his house for additional pieces of evidence in the murder of Batocabe.

Baldo said he was not bothered by the warrant but worried about “planted evidence.”

“What scares me are the possibilities of planted evidence like a grenade and high-powered firearms,” he said.

“We know that these are nonbailable offenses when found in your possession,” he said.

Police in Bicol declined to comment on Baldo’s statement.

Letter to Comelec

Baldo also disclosed that he wrote to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc asking that the commission deny the letter of the Lakas-Christian-Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) revoking his certificate of nomination and acceptance (Cona).

In a letter dated Jan. 3, Lakas-CMD executive director Bautista Corpin Jr. told the Comelec that the political party had decided to revoke the Cona it had issued to Baldo as the party’s candidate for Daraga mayor.

Baldo insisted he was innocent and denied involvement in the Batocabe-Diaz murder case.