UPDATE 2: Tanauan mayor shot dead
TANUAN CITY, Batangas – A mayor in the province, known as the “Duterte of Batangas,” for his relentless campaign against illegal drugs, was shot dead on Monday morning.
A single crack of gunfire from a suspected sniper was heard as Mayor Antonio Halili attended the regular flag-raising ceremony at the new city hall in Barangay Natatas.
A police report said Mayor Halili was shot on the chest and was rushed to the CP Reyes Medical Center where he was declared dead on arrival at 8:10 a.m. by the attending physician.
Gerry Yson Laresma of the public information office posted a video of the incident.
A manhunt operation was initiated to catch the suspect.
Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Oscar Albayalde told a press briefing that the mayor’s way of parading drug suspects and other criminals in a “walk of shame” could be one of the motives behind the killing.
In the “walk of shame”, criminals parade on the streets, with a cardboard tied around their necks indicating the crime they committed.
“That is one of the motives we’re currently looking [at]. Remember, some of the suspects were probably hurt and embarrassed when they were subjected to the walk of shame,” Albayalde said.
He also said that police have to establish if Halili was on their drugs watchlist.
A Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) was formed to investigate the incident.
Despite being known for his drug campaign, Halili, ironically, was allegedly listed as a “narco-politician,” which he denied, and as a result was stripped of his police powers by the National Police Commission.
Halili started his “walk of shame” campaign on his first year as mayor to curb the increasing crime rate in the city.
In 2014, a man was ordered to march around the public market and forced to kneel in front of a fish vendor with a sign saying “I’m a thief” after he stole dried fish from the vendor.
In 2015, another man took the “walk of shame” after he stole P3,000 worth of cable wires.
In May 2016, 11 drug suspects who were arrested in separate drug raids were ordered to parade around the city with hands tied behind their backs and a sign “Ako’y pusher, ‘wag tularan” in what city officials dubbed as “Flores de Pusher.”
(I’m a drug pusher, don’t follow my lead.)
In August of the same year, nine drug suspects, including a police on “Absence without a leave” (AWOL) status, paraded across the city while carrying coffins.
Despite heavy criticisms from Commission of Human Rights (CHR), Mayor Halili said that the shame campaign became “very effective” in decreasing the city’s crime rate.
Because of this, the mayor was called the “Duterte of Batangas” after President Rodrigo Duterte’s similar “iron fist” style of governance, especially against drugs and criminality.
In 2017, Halili’s name was among the five mayors whom the National Police Commission (Napolcom) stripped of their police powers. BELLY OTORDOZ, ROY NARRA, REGINAN ABANG
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