Misamis Occidental mayor shot dead a day after arrest for mauling

CEBU CITY (UPDATE)—A town mayor from Misamis Occidental province who was previously tagged in President Rodrigo Duterte's "narco-list" was gunned down along M. Velez St., Cebu City on Friday afternoon, police said.

Clarin Mayor David Navarro was shot by unknown gunmen while he was on a police vehicle en route to the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office.

He was set to undergo inquest for slight physical injury and acts of lasciviousness, a day after he was arrested for allegedly mauling a masseur and soliciting sexual favors.

Witnesses said the perpetrators aboard a white van stopped the police convoy and told Navarro to get out of the vehicle before shooting him.

Police Major Eduard Sanchez, chief of Abellana Police Station, claimed they ensured Navarro's safety but the incident happened quickly.

The mayor wore a bulletproof vest and was seated beside the police chief of Clarin and a security aide, he said.

The victim's sister Princess blamed the attack to Navarro's inclusion in the list of alleged "narco-politicians."

"Do you think these cases of slight physical injury and acts of lasciviousness could be the reason for his death?" she told ABS-CBN News in Cebuano.

Princess also denied her brother was involved in the alleged illegal drug trade of the Parojinog clan in Ozamiz City, whose members were killed and arrested in a series of anti-drug raids in 2017.

"We knew each other because we lived in the same province, but not to the point that we are linked to whatever business the Parojinogs have," she said.

She added, "My brother was friendly because he was a politician. He was a family provider and extraordinarily generous."

Sen. Bong Go, who was in Cebu City to visit fire victims in Barangay Sambag I, said he also heard Navarro was included in Duterte's "narco-list".

He condemned the incident and said he will ask the police and the President to give justice on Navarro's death.

"Pero maaaring babala rin po 'yan sa mga sangkot sa droga," Go said.

(But this could also be a warning against those involved in the illegal drugs trade.)—With reports from Annie Perez and Aiza Layague, ABS-CBN News