ZAMBOANGA CITY – This city’s Mayor Ma. Isabelle Climaco-Salazar, a niece of the late mayor Cesar Climaco, condoled with the family of former police officer Rizal Alih, who died last Friday in a jail in Manila.
Alih was tagged in the killing of the former mayor in 1984. He led a group of men in taking hostage several military officers in 1989 in this city.
Salazar expressed sympathy to the children and relatives of Alih, whose remains were brought here on Saturday.
“We were in the same flight from Manila,” Salazar said.
Alih, 77, died of heart failure at his detention cell at Camp Crame in Quezon City.
He and his men were detained in this city for the killing of Climaco on Nov. 14, 1984.
On Jan. 3, 1989, Gen. Eduardo Batalla summoned Alih and his men in his office at the defunct Philippine Constabulary-Integrated National Police (PC-INP) headquarters at Camp Cawa-Cawa, to inform them of their transfer to Manila.
Alih resented the order and took Batalla and his chief of staff, Col. Romeo Abendan, hostage inside the headquarters.
Negotiation for Alih’s surrender failed after Battala and Abendan were reportedly executed by the hostage takers.
This prompted former Armed Forces chief Gen. Renato de Villa to order an airstrike that flattened the PC-INP headquarters.
Alih managed to escape before the airstrike and fled to Sabah where he was arrested later for illegal possession of firearms.
He was sentenced to 12 years in prison and was turned over to Philippine custody.