THE Department of Interior and Local Government in Davao Region (DILG-Davao) is looking at the possibility of holding a special election in Barangay Datu Abdul Dadia in Panabo City after the newly-elected Barangay Captain Engr. Paul Albert Saquian was shot dead on his turf on November 7, 2023.
DILG-Davao announced this development during an AFP-PNP press briefing at the Royal Mandaya Hotel on Wednesday morning, November 8.
However, according to Regional Director Alex Roldan, the situation will depend on the decision of the City Mayor’s Office and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) since it was not on the Philippine laws that electoral and political appointments shall be made in Barangay level especially when a political candidate has not yet started his/her term nor assumed office despite being proclaimed.
“Nagkaroon na ng coordination sa atoang local government unit (LGU) ug Comelec ang paghimo sa special election and wala pa tay timeline or exact date when siya buhaton (There is already coordination with our local government unit (LGU) and Comelec to hold a special election and we do not yet have a timeline or exact date when it will be held),” Roldan said.
“Wala pa pud sya ka-assume so dili pa mu-effect ang succession. Kadtong mga napildi, dili to sila ma-consider nga mupuli kay pildi jud to sila, technically, so most likely, naay special election (He has not assumed office yet so the succession will not take effect. Those who lost will not be considered successors because technically, they already lost, so most likely, there will be a special election),” Roldan continued.
Based on the report provided by the Police Regional Office-Davao (PRO-Davao) the Davao del Norte Police Office has already requested the creation of a Special Investigation Task Group-Saquian (SITG-Saquian) to hasten the case.
“On going pa gihapon ang imbestigasyon and aduna nay autopsy nga ginabuhat para ma-determine kung pila gunshots ang na-recieve sa victim. Nagpa-request na usab ang [Davao] del Norte Police Office og SITG para mapadali masulbad ang kaso (The investigation is still going on and an autopsy is being done to determine the how many gunshots were received by the victim. The [Davao] del Norte Police Office has already requested an SITG to resolve the case),” PRO-Davao Spokesperson Catherine Dela Rey said.
As of press time, police authorities are still conducting a hot pursuit operation to arrest the suspects and the motive behind the incident is yet to be determined. DEF
