Slain Lamitan City ex-mayor Furigay laid to rest

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Hundreds of mourners joined the funeral rite for the slain Lamitan City Mayor Rose Furigay Wednesday.

Personnel of the Lamitan City Health Office told reporters hundreds more had wanted to participate in the event, but were immediately restrained as part of the local government unit’s anti-COVID-19 protocols.

Officials of the Basilan Provincial Police Office, local executives from across the province and representatives from the military’s Western Mindanao Command and different law-enforcement agencies attended the religious activity.

Furigay, whose third and last term as mayor ended June 30 this year, her aide, Victor Capistrano and security guard Jeneven Bandiala were shot dead one after another last July 24 by physician Chao Tiao Yumol in the campus of the Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City.

Yumol was arrested after the gruesome killings, now facing multiple criminal charges.

While Furigay was mayor, the city government of Lamitan thrice received from the central office of the Department of the Interior and Local Government the vaunted Seal of Good Local Governance, a citation premised on good performance of prospective awardees, sound budget management and non-involvement of local executives in illegal activities.

LGUs whose officials have issues with the Commission on Audit and the Ombudsman are also not qualified for an SGLG award.