SENATE President Aquilino Pimentel III condemned on Tuesday, November 28, the ambush-slay of Barangay Ermita, Cebu City chairman Felicisimo Rupinta, saying the city lost a dedicated public servant who was loved by the masses.
In a statement, Pimentel, who considered Rupinta as a loyal PDP-Laban stalwart in Cebu City, challenged the Philippine National Police (PNP) to extend extra efforts to apprehend the perpetrators.
“I call upon the police to immediately arrest the suspects and dig deep into the case because this may have something to do with his job as a no non-sense public servant. He was very much active in the campaign against illegal drugs,” said Pimentel.
Rupinta was waylaid by four motorcycle-riding assailants in Liloan, Cebu, on Thursday night (November 23). The victim was driving his Isuzu pick-up truck with wife Jocelyn when the attackers blocked their path and shot the victim.
The barangay captain was rushed to a nearby hospital where he later expired.
Pimentel said he was shocked upon learning of the killing of Rupinta, whom he described as among the original die-hards of PDP-Laban at a time when the party was still a struggling group during the martial rule of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos.
Pimentel said the PDP-Laban would always cherish the sacrifices of Rupinta, who in the company of the legendary Inday Nita Daluz, Elias Baquero, lawyer Democrito Barcenas, and Tony Cuenco, anchored the party’s fight against dictatorship together with his father, former Senate President Aquilino Pimentel Jr. (PS Jun M. Sarmiento/VoxPop Philippines)