Former Laguna mayor sets Napoles poster on fire

SAN PEDRO, Laguna, Philippines–A retired police officer and former mayor of Pagsanjan, Laguna set on fire a poster of Janet Lim-Napoles in front of Fort Sto. Domingo to protest what to him is the special treatment being accorded the kidnapping suspect and alleged pork barrel scam operator.

From his hometown in Pagsanjan, the 59-year-old Abner Afuang early Monday drove to the Special Action Force training school in Sta. Rosa City, Laguna, where Napoles is currently detained.

Afuang, known for his political antics such as burning national flags, torched an 8’ by 3’ poster depicting Napoles as a pig in a barrel.

“I don’t believe there is a real threat against her,” said the 59-year-old Afuang, who had just recently undergone a heart bypass.

Aside from calling it a VIP treatment, Afuang also said Napoles’ transfer from the Makati City Jail was an insult to jail guards and policemen there, giving the public the impression they are incompetent to secure a high-profile detainee.

Afuang also left the facility before 10 a.m. but vowed more protest actions as the case prospers.

The former mayor figured in the news last four months ago when he burned Taiwanese flags to protest Taiwan’s decision to suspend processing labor visa applications from the Philippines following a row over the killing of a Taiwanese fisherman by coast guard personnel off Batanes.

In 2009, Afuang, also a tabloid columnist, grabbed attention when he doused water on Dr. Hayden Kho Jr. during a Senate inquiry into the sex video scandal involving the famous cosmetic surgeon and actress Katrina Halili.