Albano family: Let people see how mayor was murdered

The remains of slain Mayor Delfinito Albano will be brought to his hometown Ilagan, Isabela, to let his constituents see how violently he was murdered, GMANews.TV learned Wednesday. Former Rep. Rodolfo Albano (1D, Isabela), brother of Delfinito, said Ilagan folk will be allowed to see the slain mayor's remains in their family's cry for justice. "We will seek justice. We will bring his body back to Isabela to show the people how brutal his murder was," said Rodolfo, currently chairman of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC). He did not say, however, if the Albano family planned on cleaning Delfinito's remains. Rodolfo said it was difficult to say if the murder was politically motivated since it was "natural" for the Albano family to have rivals. "He is on his second term and is not likely to have political rivals in next year's elections," Rodolfo said in Filipino. Delfinito won the top local post in Ilagan town in 2001. He survived a previous ambush attempt in November 2004 some four kilometers from the Ilagan town center. He was on his way to inspect the fire that hit the Ilagan municipal hall. Prior to the attack, Army intelligence soldiers claimed that they recovered documents showing that Delfinito gave firearms to New People's Army (NPA) rebels. Delfinito denied the allegations, saying these might have stemmed from his decision to lend a vehicle to local members of the leftist group Bayan Muna. Meanwhile, Delfinito's nephew Larry Hernandez said the murdered mayor did not have any premonition about an imminent attack. Interviewed from the Prudential Funeral Homes in Manila, Hernandez said he exchanged text messages with Delfinito on Tuesday night and the mayor's messages did not indicate any sign of trouble. "We exchanged text messages, it was nothing political, it was just greetings. He did not say that he was having problems in his text messages," he told GMA 7's DZBB. He said he and his family felt very sad over the murder, saying they loved their "Mayor Jojo." "The people of Ilagan town love him. I am sure he has enemies in politics but I don't know of anyone who would hate him enough to have him murdered like that," he said.-GMANews.TV