BONTOC, Mountain Province – Gov. Bonifacio C. Lacwasan, Jr. stated the people of the province are solid and united in seeking justice for the gruesome murder of Salvador G. Liked, a barangay kagawad of Balintaugan, Bauko town and an anti-corruption advocate.
“We condemn the unlawful action of the two gunmen as we fear that the said incident could be a precedent to other future untoward incidents. We, in Mountain Province, abhor and do not condone any kind of killing,” Lacwasan stressed in a statement issued recently.
While death is said to be man’s ultimate destiny and nobody knows each man’s life measure, the governor claimed that the people of the province were born into a culture that had always upheld the value of ‘inayan’ no matter what difficulties and enemies that they had in their midst and that no one resorted to any cold bloodied killing.
He added that the provincial government through the provincial peace and order council always aggressively promoted peace and order among the people and given the said advocacy, the province committed its support and assistance to the hastened investigation of the high profile case that transpired in the province and to bring to justice the perpetrators.
As a God-fearing and peace-loving citizens of the province and as the PPOC chairperson, Lacwasan assured his all-out support to the ongoing investigation of the brutal murder of a staunch advocate against corruption and may the investigation of the law enforcers will come to an end to ally all the fears of the people and shed light on the unfounded allegations surrounding the death of the barangay official.
On the night of September 2, 2020, Barangay Kagawad Liked, who was also the former Secretary-General of the Cordillera chapter of the Citizens Crime Watch (CCW-CAR), was shot to death by two still unidentified assailants after he allegedly came out of their residence to inspect an ongoing construction near their house.
“We express our condolences to those who had been left behind by Barangay Kagawad Liked,” he said.
He called on calmness and sobriety among the people of the province and instead await the outcome of the ongoing investigation so that the culprits behind the brutal murder incident will be identified and appropriately charged before the local court.
Lacwasan admitted that the occurrence of the high profile murder case in the province had definitely affected the image of Mountain Province as one of the most peaceful and orderly provinces in the country and had created an atmosphere among the people living in the far flung communities.
However, he urged the people of the province to bestow their trust and confidence to the investigating authorities in resolving the crime the soonest so that whatever fear that was impressed on them will be erased.
Earlier, the Mountain Province Police Office created a special investigation task force to conduct an in-depth investigation on the brutal murder incident that was perpetrated by lawless elements for the immediate identification of the perpetrators and for them to be charged in court. By Hent