Samar killings scare village officials

CALBAYOG CITY, Samar, Dec. 9  -- Unresolved killings allegedly perpetrated by private armed groups in this city continue to haunt village officials, who are now planning to resign for fear of their own lives.

A village official, who refused to be named for security reason, told PNA Friday that many of them wanted to resign for fear of becoming crime targets.

“I don’t know why all these senseless killings are happening in our city and I don’t know how long we will continue to live in fear,” he said.

The official had expressed fear three weeks after the brutal killing of San Jose village chief Roberto Gacelos and his driver by unidentified armed men. The incident on Nov. 15 took place just 100 kilometers away from a police detachment in Villahermosa village.

The source said Gacelos was one of the village officials in the city who wanted to quit their posts and leave the city out of fear.

A week after Gacelo’s killing, resident Joe Patrick Lentejas was killed when an armed group ambushed him while he was driving his car near his house in Matobato village.

Calbayog Mayor Ronaldo Aquino urged local officials to take the recent killings as a challenge and encouraged them to continue working and helping one another in preventing further attacks that allegedly target local political leaders and village officials.

“It is so shocking and sad. My heartfelt condolences to the families that have lost their loved ones. Please do not give up in this battle,” Aquino told village officials.

Aquino asked the police to conduct a thorough investigation and arrest those responsible for the killings.

Philippine National Police Regional Director, Chief Supt. Gilbert Cruz, said they have launched manhunt operations to arrest the suspects in recent killings in the city.

“Not all cases of shooting incidents in Samar are related to politics. Some are with personal motives based on the police investigations,” Cruz said.

Cruz believes that some suspects in the killings are not private armed groups, but are criminals and hired killers.

Citing intelligence reports, Cruz said some of the 150 private armed group members have been arrested and some have fled out of Samar province.

“We will make sure that the warrants of arrest issued by the court against private armed group members will be served, so that we can put them in trial,” he added.

In October 2016, the police and army formed a task force to track down private armies in Calbayog City and nearby towns of Sta. Margarita, San Jorge, Gandara, and Matuginao.

Calbayog is a first class city in Samar province, with a population of 183,851 in 157 villages. It is the third largest city in terms of land and water areas in the Philippines. (JB/RTA/PNA)