Family of slain campaign manager sees politics behind murder

BATANGAS, Philippines (The Filipino Connection) - Insisting that he had no known enemies, the family of Mario Rivera said politics is behind the killing of the campaign manager of mayoralty bet Manding Maligaya in Barangay Poblacion in Sto. Tomas on April 19.

“He’s always telling me that nothing bad will happen to him and if something bad happens to him, then it’s nobody but the opponent who did it,” Mario’s widow Ising Rivera told reporters in a press conference at the Maligaya compound late last week.

While she refused to Sto. Tomas Mayor Edna Sanchez by name, Rivera seemed to referring to her camp since Sanchez and Maligaya are the only two candidates for mayor.

Days before he was murdered, Ising said her husband Mario was confident that he was safe as he used to be campaign manager for the Gov. Armando Sanchez, the mayor's late husband.

It was only after the campaign season started in March that the 63-year-old Mario felt the heat from the Sanchez camp.

Dolfo Malabanan, a close ally of Rivera, said that he sees no other reason but politics as the motive. He said opponents may have targeted Mario to “weaken” Maligaya's campaign. His camp claims Maligaya has been surging in their surveys with town voters in the past few weeks.

Maligaya says he owes Rivera a lot and he considers him a great loss to his campaign. He vowed to continue the pursuit for justice for his fallen campaign manager.

He has also offered a P300,000 bounty for those who would help identify the perpetrators behind Rivera’s killing.

Mayor denies involvement

In early television interviews, Sanchez said she has “nothing to do” with Rivera’s death.

“I experienced losing a security aide before so we really can never do that,” the mayor told GMA News’s Quick Response Team, referring to the June 2016 bombing incident at the capitol, which former Gov. Sanchez survived but where two of his security aides were burned to death.

The mayor said that Rivera used to work for Gov. Sanchez before joining the camp of late Mayor Renato Federico, who substituted for her as mayoral candidate in 2010.

Sanchez said she was surprised to learn that Rivera had joined Maligaya’s camp for the 2016 elections but said she doesn’t hold any grudge against Rivera.

Rivera was shot dead by unidentified assailants in front of the Liana’s Supermarket along Maharlika Highway in Barangay Poblacion 4 at on April 19.

Witnesses said the gunman immediately fled aboard a yellow car and drove towards Calamba City, Laguna after the assassination.

Police: Personal grudge behind killing

In a phone interview, Superintendent Noel Nunez, Sto. Tomas police chief, said that based on their investigation, it appears that a personal grudge was behind Rivera's death.

He said town polcice have already identified the three suspects with the help of CCTVs and witnesses and are readying murder charges against them.
Nunez however refused to divulge the names of the suspects until the case is closed.

Sto. Tomas police have already forwarded Rivera’s cellphone to the PNP’s Anti-Cybercrime Unit to retrieve past messages, including death threats that the victim may have received prior to his killing.

Told of the allegations of the Maligaya camp, he said, “we’re not basing on the allegations, we’re only basing everything on the evidence.”

Sto. Tomas is among nine Batangas towns in Batangas in Comelec’s election watchlist areas for the reported presence of armed militant groups.

The Filipino Connection is a Philippine community news organization based in Lipa City, Batangas