'Laughable,' Trece Martires vice mayor's widow says of alleged link to husband's slay

A Trece Martires, Cavite mayoral candidate has denied a political rival's insinuation that she was "forewarned" of the ambush attack that killed her husband, the late city vice mayor Alexander Lubigan.

"The insinuation that I was responsible for my husband's death is laughable at best," Gemma Lubigan, Alexander's widow, told state prosecutors in a reply-affidavit she submitted before the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday.

Gemma accuses the incumbent mayor, Melandres de Sagun, and several others of murder and frustrated murder over the death of her husband and his driver, Romulo Guillemer, last July.

Defending himself against the charges, De Sagun seemed to tag Gemma in the crime and alleged that she was using the incident to further her election campaign for the mayor's post, which Alexander had aimed for before he was killed.

"And how convenient it is that when the fateful event happened, the better half of the Vice Mayor was opportunely left at the gym because allegedly she was not yet done with her routine. Was she forewarned that something will happen?" De Sagun said in an earlier filed counter-affidavit.

Alexander, his driver and his aide were ambushed on Trece Martires-Indang Road in Barangay Luciano in front of Korean Hospital on the afternoon of July 7.

But Gemma said any spouse would have made sure to stop their partner from even leaving the house if they knew they were in danger. She claimed she was with her child at the gym, and that Alexander would leave first, aboard a different vehicle.

"Kahit sa'n po tingnang anggulo, sino po 'yung walang pusong asawa na alam nang may mangyayari sa asawa niya, pababayaan pa rin na may mangyari? Hindi ho tama 'yung ganung isipan," she told reporters after the DOJ hearing.

She also denied De Sagun's allegation that she was using her husband's death for her election bid, claiming she was only continuing her husband's fight in his place.

"Hindi ko po ginagamit 'yung pagkakataon, napakapangit naman po sa isang maybahay na sasabihin ang kamatayan niya ang ginagamit ko para ma-push ko yung pagtakbo ko," she said.

"Pero nand'on na po tayo sa pagkakataon. 'Yun nga po 'yung laban niyang naiwan kailangan ko pong ipagpatuloy," she added.

She said she will be up against the wife and the father of De Sagun in the 2019 polls. Alexander would have been the third candidate, whose rising popularity she said threatened "the power held so long by the De Sagun clan."

His death eliminated an opponent, Gemma said, taking exception to De Sagun's claim that he had no motive to have Alexander killed.

"My husband's death strengthened their family's position to the top post for the city of Trece Martires. Effectively removing an opponent for next year's elections is a clear motive to slay my husband," she said in her reply, also reserving the right to submit evidence of Aiza and Jun De Sagun's 2019 election plans "in due course."

Her 13-page reply also challenged the "sweeping denials" made by De Sagun in his counter-affidavit. She cited the positive identification of the alleged gunman, Ariel Paiton, by Alexander's aide who survived the attack, and the vehicle used in the crime as evidence to her allegations.

"The respondents' counter-affidavits do not deserve even a scant consideration from this Honorable Office for bearing nothing more but self-serving claims, bare denials and outrageous lies," she said.

The respondents were directed to submit their rejoinder-affidavits, their response to the reply, on November 26.  —KBK, GMA News