Police reenact Halili killing, eye 3 possible motives

PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) chief Oscar Albayalde said on Thursday, July 5, that they were looking at three possible motives for the killing of Tanauan City, Batangas mayor Antonio Halili, including his alleged conflict with a former high-ranking general.

Albayalde said other possible motives are related to a land dispute and illegal drugs.

“Meron din s’yang nakaaway na former general na high ranking at meron din alleged lang naman yun with regards ‘yung involvement n’ya sa illegal drugs... Hindi ko lang sure kung ano talaga ang naging puno't dulo nung away nila,” he said.

Albayalde said they have yet to identify the former general, whom Halili had argued with.

Halili was killed by a single bullet to the heart while attending the flag ceremony at the Tanauan city hall in Batangas province on Monday, July 2.

Calabarzon chief of police Chief Superintendent Edward Carranza said they were looking at three persons of interest, including a person proficient in the use of a long firearm.

Carranza said the killing was well-planned as the assailant left no traces. Even the bullet disintegrated upon impact.

Not alone

He said the assailant could not have been alone.

In a press conference following the re-enactment Thursday, of Halili’s killing, Carranza said the “sniper hole” which the police found earlier in the grassy area surrounding the city hall where the mayor was gunned down was indeed where the assassin positioned, but he was not alone.

"The distortion on the natural growth of the grass, medyo, in terms of width, malapad... We are only deducing that together with the gunman was another person that probably assisted him," he said.

Read: Police eye 3 persons of interest in Halili killing

The police conducted a re-enactment of the incident in order to determine the line of sight of the suspect amid the investigator’s difficulties in finding possible lead to the assassin who according to Carranza had planned the killing “very well” leaving no possible traces.

Carranza said they have established that the gunman was just 76.8 meters away from Halili and not 150 meters, as police initially estimated.

He said suspect was not that confident as he only shot his target in the chest when he could have targeted the head.

"Body shot ang tinira niya. That is a bigger target so hindi siya ganon ka-confident," said Carranza.

Not a sniper

Earlier, the police official clarified that Halili was not felled by a sniper's bullet, as they initially thought.

A sniper can hit a target from a distance of at least 500 meters. Carranza said the assailant is a “person proficient in the use of long firearm.”

Meanwhile, Batangas Provincial Police director Senior Superintendent Edwin Quilates said the 5.56 millimeter empty shell found at the crime scene is undergoing ballistics examination.

"Isa-submit sa ballistic examination para makita 'yung individual characteristics ng anong firearm 'yung pinanggalingan niyan. So may individual characteristic na we will go to the IFIS, 'yung Integrated Firearms Identification System. It's a database of firearms characteristics," he said.

"So kung may nakita tayo dun, may record 'yan, merong ownership. Kung may ownership, may tao tayong titignan kung kanino may-ari. So may pag-uumpisahan 'yung investigation," he added.

Possible lapses

Albayalde said the PNP is also looking into possible lapses.

Due to his alleged involvement on illegal drugs, the Department of Interior and Local Government stripped Halili of power and control over the PNP in his area.

Albayalde said, however, that this could not be a reason for the lack of police presence in the area.

“Hindi naman porke ikaw you will be stripped of police power ay wala nang obligasyon ang pulis doon to maintain the peace and order or to secure an activity, not necessarily the person. Kung nakita naman ng pulis doon at nakita natin may kapabayaan despite na merong silang nakikitang risk or intelligence report na merong pwedeng mangyari doon sa lugar at merong pagpuplong sa lugar na yun at maraming tao it's just right and the obligation of the municipal police to provide security, not to the individual but to the activity para masecure lahat ng nandun hindi lang para sa isang individual lang,” he said.

As seen in the CCTV footage which captured the actual killing, no policemen immediately responded to the incident.

“We will look into that. Bakit walang pulis during flag-raising. Usually kapag co-located ‘yung istasyon doon sa munisipyo. Basically may mga pulis na nag assist ng flag-raising din,” said Albayalde.

“Hindi rin natin alam how true ‘yung mayor daw accordingly ay parang kaya walang pulis na walang gustong mag-attend kasi minumura n’ya at pinapahiya ‘yung mga pulis doon na naga-atend so ‘yun din ang tinitingnan natin,” he added.

Halili was one of two mayors in the past three days. About 36 hours after he was gunned down, Mayor Ferdinand Bote of General Tinio town in Nueva Ecija was ambushed and killed in Cabanatuan City.

Officials said there is no connection between the two incidents amid apprehensions over the brazen high-profile killings in the country. (SunStar Philippines)