President Duterte offered sympathies to the family of slain mayor.
During his televised address on Monday night, President Rodrigo Duterte had offered his sympathies to the family of slain Los Baños Mayor Caesar Perez.
However, the President kept distance from Perez’s inclusion in the list of politicians who were allegedly implicated in the illegal drug trade.
President Duterte explained that it’s actually the Philippines’ law enforcers who placed Perez on the list of suspected drug-linked politicians, adding that he merely read the list in order to inform the public.
“Sagutin ko itong pamilya ni — kasi nanawagan sila sa ano. Iyong mga anak ni Perez. First of all, I’m sorry that your father died the way it happened,” Duterte said.
President Duterte further claimed that he actually didn’t know Perez and couldn’t remember reading his name from the said list.
The President said that he bared the list of suspected drug-linked officials “as a matter of duty of a President” in order to inform the public so that they could “prevent, obstruct or just simply shy away” from those people ahead of the 2019 elections.
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However, President Duterte said that Perez could be an “exception” if the family believed in his innocence.
Los Baños Mayor Caesar Perez, who was among politicians allegedly linked to the illegal drug trade by the President, was shot on December 3 by gunmen inside the municipal hall of Los Baños in Laguna.
Perez, 66, was rushed to a nearby hospital wherein he was declared dead.
The family of Perez had appealed to President Duterte to help bring the perpetrators to justice.
It was last March 2019 when President Duterte released 44 names of government officials – including Perez – allegedly implicated in the illegal drug trade for the sake of public interest.
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