Shock, rage in Los Baños over mayor’s slay

The Baths Mayor Caesar Perez

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna – Two shots from a distance downed Los Baños Mayor César Pérez, the last local executive director tagged in President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war and removed from the list by a bullet from an assassin.

But even that accusation, for which the 66-year-old Pérez lost authority over local police in 2017, did not erode public trust that turned into a snowball in this quiet university town in Laguna province.

The mayor, with a civil guard, was taking a walk in an open area in the city hall compound on Thursday night when he was shot dead. The incident occurred just one kilometer from the municipal police station.

Governor Ramil Hernández “strongly condemned” the attack when he ordered a comprehensive police investigation on Friday. Several other mayors of Laguna supported his call for justice.

Neglect of the process

Los Baños University of the Philippines said the attack was an “affront to our dearest respect for human rights.”

“We also want to appeal to the residents of Los Baños to denounce this absolute disregard for judicial processes as can be seen in the murder of Mayor Pérez,” he said in a statement.

Pérez’s political career began as a village captain. He would personally handle vehicle traffic and, like a doting father, would send college students back to their dormitories in the early hours. He was elected mayor from 2001 to 2010, best known for his programs on waste segregation and the ban on plastic bags in a town at the foot of Mt. Makiling.

From 2010 to 2013, Pérez served as deputy governor of Laguna and was re-elected mayor in 2014, 2016 and 2019. Since then, he has spent most of his time in the municipal hall, with a small bedroom and his own entrance at the back. . from the government compound, a modest marquee for entertaining after hours and a small carp pond.

“He practically lived there because he said it would be easier for him to do his job,” said Councilmember Janos Lapiz.

On Thursday night, Pérez and Lapiz were coming from inspecting a government project in Barangay Baybayin when the mayor, upon arriving at the municipal hall, asked for a masseuse. Local masseurs are common here where natural hot springs abound.

Deadly ride

At 8:45 pm, Pérez asked his driver and another assistant to take the masseuse home. Then the mayor went to feed his tents and took a walk through the open area of ​​the city hall when two shots rang out.

SEARCH Police investigators are looking for evidence at the site where Los Baños Mayor César Pérez was assassinated on December 3 inside the municipal building complex. —PHOTO LAGUNA PNPshots rang out.

There were security guards at night, but they mainly guarded the main public entrance to the government compound, Lapiz said. At that time, the mayor was left alone with a civilian bodyguard.

The bodyguard, unhurt, transferred the mayor to the hospital located about 2 kilometers from the town hall. Doctors tried to revive Pérez for 30 minutes, but failed. He was pronounced dead at 9:25 p.m.

Suspicious van

Police Lt. Col. Chitadel Gaoiran, who spoke for the Laguna Police Special Investigation Task Force, said Perez had a gunshot wound to the head, two to the chest and one shoulder wound.

“We still don’t know what the [bullet] entry or exit wounds, ”he said in a telephone interview on Friday.

Gaoiran said police have yet to establish whether it was a sniper shot that killed Pérez.

An Inquirer source, who requested anonymity, said a security camera captured a white L300 van suspiciously parked “for two hours” near the rear entrance of the government building.

“The passenger [of the van] he never came out and left immediately after the shooting, ”added the source.

Gaoiran declined to comment on the vehicle, but said investigators were reviewing security footage, including those taken Wednesday.

The Philippine flag flew at half-staff at the municipal building on Friday, while some of the barangay rooms were covered in black cloth.

Mourning

Pérez’s family has been silent about the incident. They were holding the wake at his home, but there were plans to move him to town hall later.

“TO [whoever did this], I hope your conscience bothers you. We lost a good mayor who had much bigger dreams for Los Baños. We trusted him, ”said the store’s owner, Melissa Santillán, 55.

Pérez had repeatedly denied his involvement in drug trafficking, after he was included on the 2017 National Police Commission’s list of suspected narcopoliticians.

That same year, Pérez’s younger brother, Ruel, was shot by motorcycle assailants in Barangay Maahas here.

In 2018, another mayor of the government narcolist, Antonio Halili of Tanauan city in Batangas province, was assassinated during a flag-raising ceremony at City Hall.

John Cerezo, director of the Department of the Interior and Local Government in Laguna, said Los Baños Deputy Mayor Tony Kalaw will be sworn in as mayor.

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