P2 M reward up for Ecija mayor killer’s arrest

TUGUEGARAO, Cagayan – The reward for information leading to the arrest of the killer of Mayor Ferdinand Bote of General Tinio town in Nueva Ecija is now P2 million.

The League of Mayors of Nueva Ecija has reportedly offered another P1 million on top of the P1 million put up by the provincial government.

Bote was buried at the General Tinio public cemetery at around 8 a.m. yesterday. His relatives, political allies and townmates joined the funeral march from the Papaya Sports Complex to Bethany Church.

Bote was killed in an ambush in Cabanatuan City on Tuesday last week, a day after the killing of Mayor Antonio Halili of Tanauan, Batangas.

Motorcycle-riding assailants shot Bote, who was in his Toyota Fortuner driven by his bodyguard, in Cabanatuan City.

Senior Inspector Jacqueline Gahid, Nueva Ecija police spokesperson, said the task force created to investigate the incident is looking at politics and business rivalry as possible motives for the killing.