Authorities urged to address, avert violence after Basilan mayor’s killing

MANILA, Philippines — As the election campaign season heats up, Senator Francis Pangilinan urged law enforcers to show the public that they can “address and avert violence.”

Pangilinan made the call as he strongly condemned the killing of Mayor Darussalam Lajid of Al-Barka town in Basilan province and a companion in Zamboanga City on Monday.

Authorities, he said, must “to do all it can” to bring the murderers to justice.

“Law enforcers—the Comelec, the police, and the military — must show the public they can address and avert violence as the campaign season heats up,” the senator said in a statement.

“We may think of them as obsolete in the era of social media, but guns, goons, and gold can resurface as lethal forces that could turn the May 2022 elections bloody,” he added.

Pangilinan said the assassination of the mayor “must prompt authorities to beef up enforcement of the law to prevent the spate of violence.”

“If these murders go unpunished, the tolerated impunity could lead to the breakdown of law and order in next year’s crucial political exercise,” he further said.

Also wounded in the attack by still unidentified motorcycle-riding gunmen was Akbar Mayor Alih Awal Sali, who was reportedly in critical condition.

A full-blown investigation has already been pushed on the killings of Lajid and an aide.

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