Quezon City Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte on Wednesday offered a P3-million reward for information that would lead to the apprehension of the killers of Barangay Bagong Silangan chairwoman and Quezon City second district congressional Crisell Beltran and her driver.
“As acting mayor, I have immediately called for a special session of the Quezon City Council to be held Jan. 31 to appropriate an initial P3 million as cash reward to anyone who will provide information that will lead to the arrest of the perpetrators of these brazen murders,” Belmonte said.
Belmonte strongly condemned the killing of Beltran and her driver Melchor Salita and assured their families that they will “exhaust all means to bring the perpetrators of this shameless crime to justice.”
Allies and political rivals also condemned the killing of Beltran.
Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo and former Quezon City Rep. Dante Liban said Beltran was well-loved by her constituents and they could not think of any reason behind her assassination.
They were joined by Bagong Henerasyon partylist Rep. Bernadette Herrera-Dy.
Liban urged the Commission on Elections to look into the possibility of declaring the second district of Quezon City a hot spot.
Castelo, a third-term congressman, has fielded his wife, Quezon City Councilor Precious Hipolito, to run against Beltran. Liban is also challenging Beltran in the coming elections.
Beltran was a candidate of the administration party PDP-Laban and was strongly endorsed by its mayoral bet Quezon City Rep. Vincent Crisologo. (Alexandria Dennise San Juan and Ben R. Rosario)