In November last year, Ronda town Mayor Mariano Blanco told reporters that his life was in danger. He had just been stripped of his power over local police back then after President Rodrigo Duterte publicly accused him of being a narco-politician.
At 1:30 a.m. yesterday, his fears came true—Blanco was shot dead by unidentified gunmen inside his office.
“Witnesses said four armed persons alighted from a white van and entered the municipal hall… The mayor was there as he was sleeping in his office,” Sr. Insp. Jayr Palcon told AFP.
Since 2017, Blanco had been regularly changing his routine—including sleeping in his office—in a bid to deter would-be assassins.
Blanco’s death came seven months after his nephew, Ronda Vice Mayor Jonnah Ungab, was also gunned down in Cebu City in February. A lawyer by profession, Ungab served as legal counsel to self-confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa Jr. He was shot twice in the head a few meters away from the Cebu City Palace of Justice where her accompanied Espinosa.
In July, at least five politicians—including another mayor in Duterte’s narco-list—were killed in a span of six days.
On July 2, Mayor Antonio Halili of Tanauan City, Batangas was shot dead while attending a flag ceremony at the city hall. A day after, Mayor Ferdinand Bote of General Tinio, Nueva Ecija was repeatedly shot by a motorcycle-riding suspect while he was onboard his Toyota Fortuner in Cabanatuan City.
On July 7, Trece Martires City Vice Mayor Alexander Lubigan and his driver Romulo Guillemer were killed by gunmen while traversing the Indang Road. On the same day, Zamboanga City councilor Michael Magallanes and Kapatagan, Lanao del Sur municipal councilor Nassif Bansil were also shot dead in separate incidents.
Halili was in Duterte’s narco-list while Bote was a member of the President’s political party, the ruling PDP-Laban. With AFP
