Aquino orders hunt for mayor’s killer

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III has ordered a manhunt for the killer of Calbayog City Mayor Reynaldo Uy, who was shot dead on Saturday night while attending a cultural presentation at the covered court in Hinabangan town in Samar province.

Uy was the provincial chairman of the Liberal Party.

Uy was shot while he and other guests stood as they were about to say The Lord’s Prayer before the start of the program.

As Uy fell, the bullet ricocheted and hit the right arm of Samar Board Member Eunice Babalcon, who was standing next to Uy at the presidential table.

Both Uy and Babalcon were brought to the Divine Word Hospital in Tacloban City, about 60 kilometers from Hinabangan, past 11 p.m.

Uy, 59, died while undergoing surgery at the operating room at 1:20 a.m.

Noting Samar’s “tradition of violence,” the President said during a Labor Day breakfast meeting with reporters that he had directed Philippine National Police Director General Raul Bacalzo to immediately “ensure that they clamped down the entire province to prevent anymore instances of violence.”

“I pressed Raul Bacalzo to ensure a speedy investigation… and the arrest of the people behind this dastardly act,” Mr. Aquino told reporters during a breakfast meeting in Malacañang.

“We don’t want this violence to be a precursor of even more violence so I can assure the people in the province of Rey Uy, the police, together with the armed forces, will exert maximum efforts.”

Chief Superintendent Arnold Revilla, police director for Eastern Visayas, said several angles were being looked into in the killing of Uy, former congressman of Samar’s first district.

“But we cannot set aside the possibility that politics could be one of the motives considering the present political condition there in Samar,” he added.

Uy was one of the Samar officials who endorsed the recall petition against Samar Governor Sharee Ann Tan and her younger brother, Vice Gov. James Tan.

In January, the Commission on Elections found the recall petition to be sufficient in form and substance.

Although the date of the recall election had yet to be set, Uy was reportedly planning to run for governor with 29-year-old Babalcon as his running mate.

Governor Tan could not be reached for comment through her mobile phone.

In previous interviews, she was confident she would not be ousted because she enjoyed the trust and confidence of her constituents.

Uy was in Hinabangan on Saturday on the invitation of Mayor Alex Abarratigue, because the municipality was to celebrate its fiesta on Sunday.

Uy and his group arrived at the house of Mayor Abarratigue about 9 p.m.

They then walked to the covered court, about 100 meters away, to watch a cultural presentation, which would start at 9:30 p.m.

Just as the Lord’s Prayer was about to start, a single shot was fired and Uy fell.

“I was about 10 meters away from where Mayor Uy was. I saw him falling with blood all over him,” said Calbayog City Administrator Emerito Montealto.
Big loss

Villareal Mayor Renato Latorre rushed to Uy and picked him up. The mayor and Board Member Babalcon, who was hit by a stray bullet, were then rushed to the hospital in Tacloban.

Autopsy report showed that an M-16 rifle was used in the shooting.

A bullet for a .45 caliber pistol was found near the concrete fence of the covered court where the lone gunman positioned himself when he shot Uy about 10 meters away.

Vice Mayor Ronald Aquino urged the police to identify and arrest the gunman and mastermind.

“Mayor Uy’s death is a big loss to all Calbayognons. He was responsible for the development of Calbayog and he was well-loved by the people,” said Aquino who would take over as mayor with Uy’s death.

Uy’s son, Councilor Rey James Uy, would assume the post of vice mayor being the number one city councilor.

Throughout his political career, Uy was a loyal member of the Liberal Party and served as its provincial chairman.

Aquino said he could not promise that there would be no crimes in the country.

“What I can promise is that the government will not stop putting behind bars everybody who violates the law,” the President told reporters.

He also said his government was now working to increase the number of policemen and soldiers as he stressed that “we still have the same number of security forces in the country as was existing 25 years ago in Edsa.”