Killing of Junjun Binay’s aide not election-related

The Makati police see no reason for the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to declare the city an “election hotspot” after last week’s killing of former Mayor Junjun Binay’s long-time executive assistant.

Supt. Gideon Ines, chief of the Makati police’s investigation section, called the death of Monaliza “Monette” Bernardo “an isolated incident, and not an election-related crime” because she was not a candidate in the previous two elections.

The 44-year-old Bernardo was shot by motorcycle-riding men in front of her house on Makiling Street at Barangay Olympia on March 21.

She later died in the hospital due to multiple organ failure secondary to blood loss.

The death of Bernardo, who had been a supporter of Binay for almost three decades, happened a week before the start of the campaign period for local candidates.

Binay called the killing “politically motivated and meant to intimidate those who [had] committed to support my candidacy as Makati City mayor.”

The May elections mark his return to politics after the Office of the Ombudsman ordered his perpetual dismissal from government service in 2015, a decision later overturned by the Court of Appeals.

Binay vs Binay match-up

Binay will be running against his sister, incumbent Mayor Abby Binay, who ordered the Makati police to “immediately resolve” Bernardo’s case.

“Makati is quiet and peaceful. I will not allow it to be destroyed by those who want to make trouble,” she said in a statement.

Their father, former Vice President Jejomar Binay, earlier offered a P1-million reward to anyone who could provide information on Bernardo’s killers.

He also asked Makati residents to stay calm and refrain from speculating. “There may be people who want to use the incident to push their own interest and create trouble,” he said.