Slain Batangas mayor’s aide kidnapped

LAGUNA , Philippines  — A businessman identified with slain Tanauan mayor Antonio Halili and his aide were kidnapped in a restaurant in Sta. Rosa, Laguna on Wednesday night.

Col. Eleazar Matta, Laguna police director, said Allan Fajardo, former head of the Mayor’s Anti-Criminality group during Halili’s term, and his bodyguard Ricky Atienza were having dinner at Seda Hotel, when around eight men wearing bonnets arrived and forced them at gunpoint into a waiting van.

“The armed men ordered all the people at the restaurant to lie on the floor ... and sped off to an unknown direction,” Matta said.

Brig. Gen. Edward Carranza, Calabarzon police director, said pursuit operations for the suspects are ongoing. He denied reports that the victims were found dead in Bay, Laguna shortly after the incident.

Fajardo, who was tagged in contract killings and illegal drugs, had sought the help of Philippine National Police chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde after Halili was killed, saying his life is in danger.

Fajardo reportedly went into hiding last year.