P0.5M reward up for capture of Sarangani mayor’s killers Aquiles Zonio Inquirer
November 14, 2006
GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- The provincial government of Sarangani has put up a P500,000 reward for vital information leading to the arrest and eventual conviction of the killers of Maitum town mayor George Yabes, who was murdered Saturday.
Governor Miguel Dominguez announced the bounty Monday over the Radyo Natin community radio station based in nearby Kiamba town.
Yabes, 56, who was in his last term, was gunned down by one of three motorcycle-riding men around 1 p.m. near the Socoteco office in Poblacion Maitum.
He was driving an owner-type jeep accompanied by his security escort and a balikbayan [returning Filipino expatriate] couple for a tour around the town. He was rushed to the Tiburcio Aquino Memorial Hospital in Kiamba town but died three hours later from a bullet wound to the head.
The governor called on all sectors to help the police solve the case and give justice to the mayor.
Meanwhile, Chief Superintendent German Doria, Central Mindanao police chief, told reporters that Task Force George, which was created by Philippine National Police Director General Oscar Calderon right after Yabes’ killing, was eyeing three angles in its investigation.
Doria said the three angles are politics, the late mayor’s no-nonsense campaign against all forms of illegal activities and the seizure of “Noah’s Ark,” a multi-million-peso boat made of hard wood from illegal sources.
He claimed they had leads but he refused to divulge specific details.
Earlier reports, also quoting Doria, said police will invite Maitum Vice Mayor Felix Reganit, for questioning about the incident.
Reganit, who took his oath as mayor on Sunday, had been implicated to an earlier attempt to kill Yabes in May.
At the time, Maitum police had arrested a certain Belino Sumadang who claimed he was hired by Reganit to kill Yabes for P200,000. Sumadang was nabbed while trying to enter the town gym where Yabes was heading the celebration of the town’s founding anniversary.
Following Yabes’ killing on Saturday, police investigators sought access to the vice mayor’s compound and rice mill for inspection, a request reportedly turned down by the vice mayor.
But Doria said the police were just following leads.
He said witnesses saw three men enter Reganit’s rice mill after the shooting of Yabes.
“If I were him, I would allow police to go inside the compound and rice mill to erase doubts in the minds of the public and law enforcers,” Doria said.
In several media interviews, Reganit denied any involvement in the killing, saying “I was at home when the incident happened.”
Earlier news reports also quoted him as saying, "I have no problem with that. That's a normal procedure."
An undefeated mayor leader since 1998, Yabes was credited for steering Maitum to its current status as the most child-friendly municipality in the Philippines.
