Palace: Killing of mayors an attempt to erode public confidence in Duterte

Malacañang said Wednesday it considers the back-to-back killings of Luzon mayors as an attempt to erode public confidence in President Rodrigo Duterte even as it denied the presence of a culture of impunity in the country.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. issued the remark after Akbayan party-list Representative Tom Villarin pinned the blame in the killing of two mayors on Duterte, who has allegedly issued a "free license" to kill in his campaign against illegal drugs.

“There is no culture of impunity in the Philippines as we do not condone any state-sponsored killing,” Roque said.

“We continue to adhere to the rule of law and consider the recent killings of high-profile figures as an attempt to erode confidence in the President, whose main platform of governance rests on fighting crimes,” he added.

Roque said the government cannot be deterred in its focus on securing and restoring order in the community.

“Our people have acknowledged the President as ‘the protector of people,’ as evidenced by surveys giving him high satisfaction, approval, trust and performance ratings,” he said.

On Monday, Tanauan City Mayor Antonio Halili was shot dead while attending the city hall's flag-raising ceremony.

A day later, General Tinio, Nueva Ecija Mayor Ferdinand Bote was killed in an ambush in Cabanatuan City.

Roque said the Philippine National Police is “sparing no effort to find and capture” the killers of the two slain mayors.

Bote is a member of the ruling PDP-Laban party and is not on the government’s list of politicians with links to the illegal drug trade.

Duterte, meanwhile, said on Monday that Halili may have been killed because of illegal drugs.

Halili, known for parading drug suspects through the city streets, had refuted the allegation that he had links to the narcotics business. — MDM, GMA News