SERIOUSLY. Another mayor dead. Another public execution.
On October 1, Sudipen town, La Union Mayor Alexander Buquing was shot dead by unidentified assailants on board a white pick-up vehicle.
He was on his way home at that time with his wife, Vice Mayor Wendy Joy Buquing, police guard and driver when they were waylaid by the gunman, who was up close when he peppered with bullets the mayor’s vehicle, in the neighboring town.
The victims were rushed to the hospital, but the mayor, his driver, and bodyguard didn’t make it. The vice mayor survived the killing.
Authorities have yet to determine the motive behind the attack.
Just as all the killings of several local chief executives since July 2016, when President Rodrigo Duterte won the presidential post.
That list continues to grow.
Under the Duterte administration, at least 12 mayors and six vice mayors were killed.
On September 5, Ronda, Cebu Mayor Mariano Blanco III was inside the municipal mayor's office when four unidentified assailants shot him dead.
He had been staying at the town hall since he was included in the narco-list of Duterte.
On July 2, Tanauan City, Batangas Mayor Antonio Halili was shot dead during the weekly flag-raising ceremony at their city hall. The next day, General Tinio, Nueva Ecija Mayor Ferdinand Bote was gunned down inside his car. Vice Mayor Alex Lubigan of Trece Martires, Cavite was on his vehicle when assailants fired at him on July 7. Sapa-Sapa town, Tawi-Tawi Vice Mayor Al-Rasid Mohammad Alih was on his vehicle with his family when riding-in-tandem men waylaid them and shot him dead at a busy street in Zamboanga City on July 11.
The authorities should start doing their jobs, or else another mayor will again fall in the statistic.