TOWN GRIEF/SEPT 16,2018: The funeral procession of the slain Ronda Mayor Mariano Blanco during his burial in Ronda town. (CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)
The service and love provided to his townmates by slain Mayor Mariano “Nonie” Blanco III is a legacy that his perpetrators just could not take.
Ann Marie, Blanco’s eldest daughter, said his father who served in different positions in Ronda town for over 20 years, had devoted most of his time in extending services to people.
“Sa mga nagbuhat ani sa akong papa, dili mo katarog sa gugma ug serbisyo nga gihatag ni Mayor Nonie Blanco sa taga Ronda. My father is a legend -a religious and principled man,” Ann Marie said before hundreds of Rondahanons that attended the necrological service held at the municipal hall on Sunday.
(To those who did this to my father, you can never repudiate the love and service that Mayor Nonie Blanco gave to the people of Ronda.)
Blanco first served as Ronda town mayor in 1998 where he was reelected twice, in 2001 and 2004.
He ran for vice mayor in 2007 and returned to the mayoral position in 2010.
Blanco was serving his last of three consecutive terms when he was murdered inside his office by a group of armed men who barged into the municipal hall at 1:30 a.m. on September 5.
Ann Marie also thanked those who sympathized and condoled to their family.
She also asked the mourners and government leaders to help in praying for the eternal repose of her father’s soul.
No to unverified reports
Tears flowed not only from Anne Marie and other members of the Blanco family but also from most of the people who attended the necrological service.
A bigger crowd of at least a thousand people filled the entire Our Lady of Sorrows Church, a few meters away from the municipal hall, and attended the Requiem Mass for Blanco.
Rev. Fr. Virgilio Dolloso, who officiated the Mass, urged the people to pray and ponder upon the mayor’s demise.
He also asked the people to stop listening and telling unverified reports on the possible motive behind the mayor’s death.
Blanco was one of the politicians in Cebu identified by President Rodrigo Duterte to have been involved in the illegal drugs trade, an allegation that Blanco had vehemently denied.
A ten-wheeler truck fully-loaded with flowers was also part of the convoy that lead the mayor’s remains to his resting place.
Police personnel were also deployed to secure the route of the funeral procession.
Blanco was laid to rest in the family’s mausoleum in the Catholic Cemetery in Ronda.
Resolutions
During the necrological service, Daphne Aguavia, the secretary of the Sangguniang Bayan, read Resolution No. 110 passed by the council that extended its sympathy to the slain mayor’s family.
On September 10, the Provincial Board also passed a resolution that extended condolences to the Blanco family as it condemned the spate of killings in Cebu.
The resolution was authored by PB Members Christopher Baricuatro and Jerome Christian Librando, both from the seventh congressional district of the province to which Ronda town belongs.
Librando and Baricuatro were also present during the Requiem Mass and the burial.
Mayor Rocky Gabatan, who had assumed the post in the wake of Blanco’s death, said he deeply mourned the passing of a public servant he had worked with for the past six years.
Gabatan, an ally of Blanco, won as the number councilor of the town. He became the vice mayor following the ambush-slay of Vice Mayor Jonnah John Ungab in Cebu City last Feb. 19.
The crowd who filled the municipal hall also took their last chance to see Blanco and offer flowers
during the public viewing.
An NBI probe?
Meanwhile, Gabatan said he would suggest to the family to seek the help of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in finding justice for Blanco.
He said that now that the slain mayor had been buried, he could begin discussion with Blanco’s family the steps that they needed to take to solve the mayor’s killing
Right now, Gabatan said, he would prefer to wait first for the findings of the investigation conducted by the police.
However, he said, he would not be satisfied with the police merely saying that they located several “persons of interest” in the Blanco killing.
“Sa ako lang gyud (As far as I am concerned), I’m not satisfied with them (Police) saying nga naa nay (that there are) persons of interest. No,” Gabatan said.
Gabatan also dismissed allegations thrown at the slain mayor that he was a narco politician.
“Sa six years nga nagkuyog mi ni mayor, maayo na siya nga tawo ug wala na syay bati nga binuhatan. Kami sa administrasyon ug hasta ang opposition nahibilong nganong giangon na ilang pangan anang narco-list,” said Gabatan.
(In the six years that we were together, the mayor had been a good man who was never involved in irregularities. We in the administration, and even those in the opposition, were surprised why his name was included in the narco-list)
Gabatan also assured that he would continue all the pending projects under the administration of Blanco.
However, Gabatan refused to confirm if he would be running for mayor in the 2019 elections.