President assures justice for slain Monkayo mayor

DAVAO CITY — President Arroyo has personally assured the widow of slain Monkayo, Compostela Valley Mayor Joel Brillantes that those responsible for his killing "will be brought to the bar of justice."

Reynaldo Española, Brillantes’ close aide, said the President called up the slain mayor’s widow Nene three times last Thursday afternoon, a few hours before the burial at the Davao Memorial Park here.

"I understand she promised not only a thorough investigation into the case but also that those responsible will be brought to the bar of justice," Española told The STAR.

Brillantes was shot twice in the head as he stepped out of the VIP room of the Matina Gallera here after a cock derby last June 28.

His lone assailant, a certain Aniceto Dejeto Sr., a barangay tanod in Sto. Tomas, Davao del Norte, was gunned down.

Española said Mrs. Brillantes is willing to testify should she be called in the investigation.

Earlier, she said her husband’s killing could be linked to the long-standing mining row at the gold-rush site at Mt. Diwalwal.

Brillantes, president of JB Management Corp., had established himself as one of the leading personalities at Mt. Diwalwal before he was elected mayor in 2001.

He had been at loggerheads with the leaders of small-scale miners, especially when he forcibly padlocked their tunnels last year until an environmentally sound resource management plan was in place in the area.

Authorities are now investigating a former policeman and a former rebel who, along with two others, are believed to have a direct hand in hiring Dejeto for the mission to kill Brillantes.

Dejeto, a 33-year-old father of seven, was reportedly hired for P1 million to kill Brillantes but gave his wife only P3,000 on the day he carried out his mission.

About 2,000 people attended Brillantes’ burial last Thursday. Only Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, head of the Regional Peace and Order Council, and Davao del Norte Gov. Rodolfo del Rosario were among the prominent personalities present. — Edith Regalado