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Wednesday, July 09, 2003
LMP president advises mayors to be extra alert
By Yolanda S. Fuertes
BINALONAN -- Do not go out without bodyguards. Do not expose yourselves unnecessarily to danger. Do not engage in cockfighting. In short, be extra careful.
That is the advice of Mayor Ramon Guico Jr., president of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines, to his fellow mayors after several of their colleagues were gunned down recently.
Guico said it could not be helped that mayors make enemies, especially when implementing projects that could hurt influential people in the town, which makes them targets for liquidation.
"Once you enter politics, you make enemies, especially in the local scene where the relationship tends to be more personal. This is why mayors must be extra careful," Guico explained.
He added that some mayors are confident that nothing will happen to them just because they are mayors of their respective towns; go around unescorted thus exposing themselves to killers.
He likewise advised the mayors to stop engaging in cockfights because while at the cockpits, people tend to lower their guards especially when they're enjoying the games. It is during these times that they are attacked.
Tayug Mayor Guerrero Zaragoza and Monkayo Mayor Joel Brillantes were killed while at the cockpit arenas. Guico said he used to play cockfights, too, but has stopped because "I might get killed in the cockpit."
Earlier, Pangasinan mayors asked the Philippine National Police for permits to carry guns to protect themselves.
"We have been granted the permit to carry short guns, but the permit to carry long guns depends on the situations of the mayor. If there are threats on their lives, then they can have the permit," Guico added.
Aside from Zaragoza, the other Pangasinan mayors earlier killed were Laoac Mayor Westrimundo Tabayoyong who was shot at the municipal auditorium, Rosales Mayor Jose Peralta who was shot in front of the church in the town and OIC Mayor Vicente Kho of Binalonan, who was shot in front of his residence.
(July 9, 2003 issue)
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