A trusted man of slain Tanauan City, Batangas Mayor Antonio Halili and his security escort were abducted by armed men while having dinner in a restaurant in Sta. Rosa City, Laguna Wednesday.
Police Col. Eleazar Matta, director of the Laguna Provincial Police Office, said the armed men posed as law enforcement authorities and even showed an arrest warrant to compel the two victims to go with them.
He identified the two victims as Allan Fajardo and Ricky Atienza. “He (Fajardo) used to be connected with Mayor Halili. The other victim is a security escort of Fajardo,” Matta said in a phone interview.
Quoting a report from his men, Matta said the two victims were eating at the Misto Restaurant in Nuvali in Sta. Rosa City when unidentified men arrived and took them at around 8 p.m. “They forcibly abducted the two victims afterwards loaded to a white van then fled toward unknown direction,” the report read.
Matta said they are now conducting investigation to determine the motive and identify the gunmen.
Police Brig. Gen. Edward Carranza, director of the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon area) regional police, said they are eyeing at least three angles behind the abduction of Fajardo. “We have so many angles when it comes to the possible reason why they were taken,” Carranza said in a separate phone interview.
First, Carranza said Fajardo is included in President Duterte’s list of people who are allegedly involved in illegal drugs trade. “He is not yet cleared on that list,” said Carranza.
Second, Carranza said Fajardo is also included in their list of criminal gangs operating in Calabarzon.
Fajardo, according to Carranza, is the brother of Rolando Fajardo who was the leader of the group behind the controversial Noboyuki Wakaoji kidnapping in 1986.
The third angle is his scrap metal business in Batangas. “This is a very lucrative business here in Calabarzon. Maraming nagpapatayan dahil sa negosyong yan,” said Carranza.
The abduction came while the police are still struggling to identify the perpetrators behind the killing of Halili last year. Halili was shot dead by an alleged sniper while leading the Monday flag-raising ceremony in front of the Tanauan City Hall.
Halili was being linked then to illegal drugs activities but his family and friends vehemently denied the allegation. Halili, it was recalled, was known for parading arrested drug pushers and users at the Tanauan City proper. (Aaron Recuenco)