THE killing of a barangay captain in Quezon City on Wednesday, January 30, was considered an election-related violence, National Capital Region Police Office Chief Guillermo Eleazar said.
Eleazar said the killing of Bagong Silangan chairwoman Crisell Beltran was the first election-related violence in Metro Manila, as no such incident was recorded in past election periods, particularly in 2016 and 2018 polls.
"Alam naman po natin na tayo po'y nasa election period ngayon at si Kapitana Beltran ay isang halal na punong barangay at tumatakbo bilang congresswoman po ng Second District ng Quezon City, so kino-consider natin na election-related violence incident, even though we have to check kung ano po talaga ang motibo sa pagkakapatay sa kanya," he said.
(We know that it's election period and Captain Beltran is running for representative of the Quezon City Second District, so we are considering it an election-related violence incident, even though we have yet to check the motive behind the killing.)
"Of course, ito pong anggulo ng politika ay ating isinasalang-alang pero hindi po natin dini-discount kung meron mang ibang motibo at yan po'y bahagi ng ating pinag-aaralan sa pagsasagawa ng imbestigasyon," he added.
(Of course, we are considering this politics angle, but we are also not discounting other possible motives. It's part of our investigation.)
Beltran was shot dead in broad daylight on January 30 while onboard her sports utility vehicle along JP Rizal road. Her driver, Melchor Salita, was also killed in the incident.
Four men onboard two motorcycles -- two gunmen and two drivers -- perpetrated the attack.
Eleazar said a task force was immediately created to investigate the incident.
"Nag-create ng special investigation task group ang QCPD (Quezon City Police District) at ngayon, nangangalap nga po ng mga ebidensya, mga statement ng mga witnesses at pati po CCTV, para makatulong sa pagsagawa natin ng imbestigasyon," he said.
(A special investigation task group was created to look for evidence, gather witnesses' statement and CCTV footage to help in the investigation.)
The Quezon City Government has offered P3-million reward for anyone who could give information that will help solve Beltran's killing. (VoxPop Philippines)