Ominous Cebu City tarpaulin taken down

CEBU CITY—A death threat or bad political propaganda?

A tarpaulin was put up on the side of the skywalk in Barangay Pardo, Cebu City, that showed the photo of the city’s former mayor, Mike Rama, with lawyer Jonah John Ungab and Rolando Espinosa Sr., mayor of Albuera town in Leyte.

It was a 2016 photo of Rama’s oath-taking as member of the United Nationalist Alliance party before Espinosa. Ungab, vice mayor of Ronda town and lawyer of Espinosa’s son, alleged drug lord Kerwin, looked on.

A red X mark was drawn across the faces of Ungab and Espinosa while Rama’s face was encircled with a note on the side that read “Ikaw ang sunod (You are next).”

The tarpaulin was taken down by Rama’s men on Friday.

Linked to illegal drugs

The three men had been linked to illegal drugs, with President Duterte both naming Rama and Espinosa as illegal drug protectors.

Chief Insp. Jovie Espenido, the former Albuera police chief, filed a complaint against Ungab at the Regional State Prosecutor’s Office in Tacloban City for allegedly protecting Kerwin’s illegal drug operation. The court later cleared the lawyer.

Espinosa and Ungab were killed in separate shootings.

Espinosa was killed during a raid on his jail cell in Baybay City, Leyte, by agents of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in November 2016.

Ungab was gunned down by a still unknown assailant shortly after he left the Cebu City Hall of Justice on Monday.

The killing of Ungab came a week after Mr. Duterte announced, during his visit to Cebu, that there would be persons, who are linked to the illegal drug trade, who “shall bite the dust.”