San Fernando mayor not backing down from reelection bid

SAN Fernando Mayor Lakambini “Neneth” Reluya will press on with her reelection bid in May.

It was her first statement since she was injured in an ambush that took the life of her husband, Panadtaran Barangay Captain and the town’s Association of Barangay Councils president Ricardo “Nonoy” Jr., and two of her staff in Talisay City last Jan. 22.

In the statement posted on the town’s official website on Tuesday, Jan. 29, the mayor thanked the different sectors, including Malacañang, that condemned the attack against her. She also thanked her constituents for their continued support and for sharing her family’s grief.

“The show of support from people from all walks of life has somehow eased the pain I suffer these days, and it made me courageous to overcome these trials,” Reluya said.

Reluya called on police to identify the suspects as soon as possible, but she also said she was open to the idea of other agencies, such as the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), conducting a parallel investigation.

Reluya asked the Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) Reluya, which was tasked to investigate the ambush, to comply with the directive of Philippine National Police Chief Oscar Albayalde to solve the crime in two weeks.

NBI 7 Assistant Director Dominador Cimafranca, for his part, said they started their investigation immediately after the ambush, but he admitted that they had yet to secure a clear lead on who was behind it.

“As of now, we have no idea who the mastermind is. As to motives, we don’t have anything definite. We are looking at all possible angles,” Cimafranca said in Cebuano.

He said they secured security camera footage from establishments in the vicinity of the crime scene.

Meanwhile, the Provincial Intelligence Branch (PIB) didn’t know it, but it was close to getting its first lead on the case.

A few hours after Reluya released her statement, PIB operatives served an arrest warrant on Jerome Labitad in Sitio Crossing, Barangay Camp 4 in Talisay City, when they were met with gunfire.

A member of the SITG Reluya, who asked not to be named, said Labitad was a suspect in the ambush of the Reluyas.

The official told Superbalita Cebu that Labitad was identified by one of Reluya’s bodyguards, who was present during the ambush.

Labitad was reportedly injured during Tuesday’s gunfight with the PIB operatives, but he was able to escape with the help of known gun-for-hire and former barangay councilor Felix Abacajan Jr. and another unidentified cohort.

Senior Insp. Alejandro Batobalonos, PIB head, said they saw Labitad get hit in the stomach while he tried to flee. When Labitad fell, Abacajan and another companion picked him up. The three men then jumped from a ledge and disappeared.

An M16 rifle was recovered in the scene.

Batobalonos said the arrest warrant for Labitad was for another case.

Labitad is reportedly a well-known colleague of self-confessed drug lords Steve Go and Franz Sabalones, brother of San Fernando Vice Mayor Fralz Sabalones.

Aside from being a suspected drug pusher, Labitad is reportedly a gun-for-hire.

Meanwhile, potential witnesses to the ambush executed their affidavits before the SITG Reluya.

Supt. Virgilio Bayon-on of the SITG Reluya said they were withholding their identities.

Authorities are pursuing three angles behind the ambush: politics, family business and illegal drugs.

They hope to solve the case before the two-week deadline given by Albayalde expires.

“There’s a new development in the case. I won’t divulge what it is as it might hamper the SITG Reluya’s investigation,” Bayon-on said in Cebuano. (With AYB, AZLG of SuperBalita Cebu)

Trending

No stories found.

Just in

No stories found.

Branded Content

No stories found.
SunStar Publishing Inc.
www.sunstar.com.ph