Espino condemns Balolong’s brutal slaying

The slain Mayor Balolong

LINGAYEN --- Gov. Amado T. Espino, Jr. condemned in the strongest terms possible the heartless assassination of Urbiztondo Mayor Ernest Balolong, Jr. and his two bodyguards, and ordered the concerned agencies to immediately get to the bottom of this crime.

Now on his third and final term, Espino who has consistently relegated politics in favor of sustained and collective action for development, said “…absolutely no one, in any way, will benefit from the crime except those with distorted values and deranged minds.”

He said that it is ironic that just one day after he convened on June 6 the provincial peace and order council to discuss various measures to further ensure the safety of the people of Pangasinan, this cold-blooded murder should take place (June 7) at all, ever after OIC-Provincial Director P/Supt Sterling Raymund Blanco’s declaration and honest assessment that “Pangasinan is generally peaceful.”

Governor Espino expressed personally his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family of Mayor Balolong as he paid his last respects to the slain chief executive of Urbiztondo last Monday morning, June 9.

It could be recalled that during the peace and order council meeting at the Capitol Resort Hotel only last Friday, PD Blanco made a situational update declaring that the crime rate in Pangasinan has significantly dropped under his watch (from January to May this year).

Mayor Balolong was shot in broad daylight at the back of the CSI Mall in Urbiztondo by still unidentified men. He was rushed to Elguira General Hospital in San Carlos City where he was pronounced “Dead on Arrival.”

Before the assassination happened, four administrative cases were filed against the mayor wherein he was slapped with 60-day preventive suspension for each case.

The provincial board was about to file Provincial Resolution No. 601-2014, which was approved last June 6 in their regular session, affirming the resolution of the committee on good government and accountability of public officers denying the motion to dismiss previously filed by the slain mayor in SP administrative case no. 03-2013 for grave misconduct in office, abuse of authority, dereliction of duty and violation of the local government code of 1991 and related laws.

However, BM Bince said that with the death of the former mayor all four administrative cases filed against him are now dismissed being moot and academic following his death last weekend. The crime took place a day before the mayor and his wife were supposed to celebrate their silver wedding anniversary and the wedding of his son, a municipal councilor of their town.