Cops look into politics, business relations of Mayor Ecija killed

Police investigators investigate the politics and affairs of the mayor killed by General Tinio in the province of Nueva Ecija after excluding his involvement in illicit drugs.

Mayor Ferdinand Bote, 57, was killed by two armed men riding motorcycles on Tuesday afternoon as he was leaving the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) compound aboard his sport utility vehicle in the city of Cabanatuan.

Amador Corpus, director of the Luzon Central Police, said Wednesday that investigators had "encountered" any information linking Bote to illicit drugs.

They focus instead on "career problems in General Tinio and some parts of Nueva Ecija" Corpus told Camp Crame in Quezon City.

He did not go into detail, but provincial authorities have leaked information that could help shed light on the attack on the mayor Building Contractor [19659003] Bote was the third engineer and building contractor to die violently in the province in less than two weeks, according to Gian Carlo Bumanlag, provincial secretary of the board of directors

Manuel Lacsamana, 51, was shot dead by motorcyclists along the national road to Cabanatuan on the night of June 23rd.

He had landed several government housing contracts and was operating 18 gas. He obtained a permit to operate a quarry along the Pampanga River and to transport and store quarry materials in his Barangay Bitas compound in the city.

Barely 24 hours after the massacre, another engineer, Manuel Farin, 64, was shot dead at his home in Sto. The town of Domingo, also in Nueva Ecija.

House Investigation

The attacks occurred as a result of a House of Representatives investigation into irregularities in the exploitation of Nueva Ecija's quarry. Antonino, and Negros Oriental Rep. Antonio Teves.

The provincial council is expected to attack the murders of Bote and the other two engineers at its next session, according to Bumanlag.

Bote's vehicle had just come out of the gunmen attacked. He had previously been to the office of the Ministry of Public Works and Highways "to monitor projects," Corpus said, citing the mayor's driver who escaped unhurt.

No Threat

Investigators now check "Bots, who served his first term as mayor, dealt with" competitions on the presidency "in the May 14 barangay elections, according to Corpus.

But until now, the police His death occurs the day after the assassination of the mayor of the city of Tanauan, Antonio Halili, in front of the town hall, Monday morning, at of the flag-raising ceremony.

The chief executive, Aaron Aquino, head of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, confirmed that Halili was involved in a drug group.The Halili family denied that several times the mayor's alleged ties to drugs.

Eduardo Año, an officer in charge of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, said the murders of the two mayors were not related [19659021EdwardCarranzadirectoroftheCalabarzonpolicesaidtheinvestigatorswereexaminingthree"peopleofinterest"inthe"wellplanned"murderofHalili-twodrug-relatedandonerelatedtothepolicy

Marksman [19659003] Carranza refused to give any other details. He declined to use the term "sniper" to describe the attacker, claiming that it had police and military connotations.

Instead, he used the term "sniper"

"At a distance of 160 meters long firearms can reach a target. The snipers [according to the military] refer to [someone shooting from] over a distance of 500 meters and beyond, "he told Camp Crame