Victoria Blanco, the mother of slain Ronda Mayor Mariano Blanco III puts a Bible above his casket before the start of a Requiem Mass on Sunday at the Our Lady of Sorrow Church in Ronda town.
Police to resume probe now that mayor had been buried
After Ronda Mayor Mariano Blanco III has been laid to rest on Sunday, Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III expressed doubt if the death of the mayor, and those of other government officials who were violently killed, would ever be given justice.
“The way katong sa mga previous nga murder involving government officials, I have doubts gyod kung masulbad ni,” Davide said on Monday.
(With what happened in the previous murder cases involving government officials, I really have doubts if this will be solved.)
Davide lamented that no significant progress has been made yet in the cases of lawyer Jonnah John Ungab, the vice mayor of Ronda town, who was killed in February and Art Stephen Bas, the councilor of Barangay Lagtang in Talisay City who was killed while on his way to school in July.
Ask NBI’s help
Davide said that he would prefer if the National Bureau of Investigation in Central Visayas (NBI-7) would help in the investigation and in finding justice for Blanco.
“Ako na tong giingnan ang anak ni Mayor Blanco to seek the help of the NBI because maybe the NBI could step in because sa pag-imbestigar gud maayo man ang investigating skills ang NBI,” Davide said.
(I already told the daughter of Mayor Blanco to seek the help of the NBI. The NBI can perhaps step in the investigation because they have good investigating skills.)
“Although the police has their own investigators, pero mas maayo man na nga makatabang pod ang NBI. Basin naay mga leads nga di mapursue sa police… Perhaps a parallel investigation [should be conducted] aron kung naay sipyat ang police sa pag-imbestigar, macover sa NBI,” the governor added.
(Although the police has their own investigators, it would be better if the NBI would help because there might be leads that the police cannot pursue. Perhaps a parallel investigation can be conducted so that the NBI can cover what the police might miss.)
Rocky Gabatan, the newly-installed town mayor of Ronda, also said in an interview on Sunday that he would prefer that the NBI will be the one to handle the case because he is “not satisfied with the progress of the investigation.”
NBI-7 OIC Regional Director Dominador Cimafranca confirmed in an interview that the family of Mayor Blanco already requested for them to step in to the investigation.
No updates yet
Meanwhile, Chief Supt. Debold Sinas, the director of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), admitted on Monday that they have no updates yet on Blanco’s case because they have yet to talk again with the family of the slain mayor.
“Wala pa ta kastorya sa pamilya (we have not talked yet to the family). But accordingly, the family is willing to pursue the case,” said Sinas.
Sinas said that Blanco’s family requested not to issue any statement during the wake of the mayor who was gunned down by armed assailants while sleeping inside the municipal hall at past 1 a.m. of September 5.
And since Blanco was already buried last Sunday, Sinas said that he will direct the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) to visit the family and get their statement.
Sinas added that they are also trying to get in touch with the two witnesses who went into hiding after the mayor’s killing.
The top official of the regional police said that non-cooperation of witnesses and Blanco’s family will greatly affect their investigation.
He added that if there is no cooperation, the killing of Blanco will most likely take time to solve.