Ex-mayor denies hand in Tayug mayor’s murder

TAYUG, Pangasinan — After several months in hiding, former Mayor Marius Ladio, who was tagged as a possible suspect in the killing of his political nemesis Mayor Guerrero Zaragoza, recently came out in the open and denied allegations that he had a hand in the much-publicized murder here last June 22.

Ladio told newsmen the other day in his residence in Barangay Evangelista, which he and his family abandoned due to reported death threats, that it is not true that he joined the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA).

"I was not a member of the CPP-NPA. I deny that I was a party committee member of the CPP-NPA. I had no hand in the assassination of ex-Mayor Zaragoza. I was only known as the political enemy of the ex-mayor. So it’s but natural to suspect me to be one of the masterminds," Ladio said.

He added that he and his family had transferred their residence to Manila to avoid trouble.

After Ladio lost in the 2001 elections to Zaragoza, he said his enemy pressured him to leave town so he could not file an electoral protest.

Asked what prompted him to finally come out, Ladio said, "I have to clear my name and people like me who were born in this town must not be prevented from living in their birthplace."