Slain Ilagan mayor laid to rest

A week after he was gunned down in a residential-commercial district in Quezon City, Ilagan Mayor Delfinito Albano was laid to rest at noon Thursday. Thousands of residents lined the streets leading from the town's civic center to the Isabela public cemetery where the slain mayor was buried. "I hope his killers are conscience-stricken. He was a model father. Whatever mistakes he made I hope they are forgiven. And I ask for justice for him," Albano's widow Maritess said during the necrological rites. Albano's brother, Energy Regulatory Commission chair Rodolfo Albano, lamented the mayor "helped so many people yet he was killed so cruelly." He asked residents of Ilagan to help the truth come out, adding the Albano family remains ready to help them. As this developed, Albano said a couple reportedly went to the police headquarters in Camp Crame to "surrender." He did not elaborate. For his part, Quezon City police director Chief Supt. Nicasio Radovan Jr declined to elaborate on the progress of their investigation. "I cannot divulge anything at this time. We are still in the stage where we are building a case," Radovan told DZRH radio station. Investigators earlier said they were looking at politics, personal grudge and business rivalry as possible motives behind the killing. - GMANews.TV