NEGROS Occidental provincial government consultant and retired major general Jon Aying is running for mayor of Sara town in Iloilo province.
Aying, a resident of Barangay Aspera, filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) at the local Commission on Elections (Comelec) office on October 15.
He is running under President Rodrigo Duterte’s Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan.
Aying was appointed as provincial consultant for internal security and public safety concerns after his mandatory retirement from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on December 31, 2017.
Aying served as commander of the 3rd Infantry Division based in Jamindan, Capiz.
He was also the former commanding officer of the 303rd Infantry Brigade based in Murcia town and commander of both the 61st Infantry Battalion in Negros Occidental.
Meanwhile, two days after Aying filed his COC, incumbent Mayor Ermelita Salcedo of Sara town was arrested in a police raid while his stepson Nerio "Ricky" Salcedo, a dismissed police officer, and son of former Mayor Neptali “Tali” Salcedo was killed during the police operation.
Nixon Salcedo Jr. also died in the operation after they both allegedly resisted arrest and engaged in a firefight with the policemen during the police raid on the houses of the Salcedo family in separate operations by virtue of search warrants for illegal possession of firearms.
The former mayor was not present during the operation but authorities recovered from his house, where Ermelita was arrested, several firearms and ammunition.