P.5 million reward up for local IATF head killers’ arrest

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — The city government of Guihulngan in Negros Oriental has offered a reward of P500,000 for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrators of the killing of the head of its Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases or IATF, Mary Rose Sancelan, and her husband Edwin.

City administrator Karen Lisette Molas said a task force was created to investigate the incident.

Guihulngan Mayor Carlo Jorge Joan Reyes condemned the killing, saying it “disrupted the period of peace that was recently enjoyed by the city because of the cooperation and surrender of many former New People’s Army rebels.”

Reyes urged concerned law enforcement agencies to bring to justice all victims of vigilante killings in the city.

Mary Rose was included in the ”hit list”of anti-communist vigilante group KAGUBAK. The Sancelan couple were shot on their way home on Tuesday.

Reyes said the bounty for the arrest of perpetrators of all unsolved killings in the city still stands.

San Carlos Bishop Gerardo Alminaza called on the government to conduct an “impartial and serious” investigation into the murders.