Acting Mayor Belmonte rejects proposal to declare QC as election hotspot
Published Feb 1, 2019 02:10 pm
By Chito Chavez
Quezon City Acting Mayor Joy Belmonte rejected the proposal to declare Quezon City as an election hotspot in the aftermath of the killing of Barangay Bagong Silangan chairperson Crisell “Beng” Beltran.
Quezon City Vice-Mayor Joy Belmonte (Mark Balmores / MANILA BULLETIN)
In an interview, Belmonte stressed that putting the city on the list of election hotspots in the country is ‘premature’ since the city police are still investigating all the possible motives behind the ambush of the barangay chair.
“I don’t think our city should be declared an election hotspot. I think that it is premature and it will only cause panic. It will only cause our people to doubt the integrity of our local government and our police force,” said Belmonte.
Belmonte explained that the incident should not be “considered yet as politically-motivated as other possible angles had been identified as the investigation progresses’’.
“Just like what NCRPO Chief Guillermo Eleazar said, it is election-related only because it occurred in the election period. Many people think that when we say it is an election-related incident, it is politically-motivated already. No, they are two different things," she added.
“When we say election-related, the incident occurred during the election period. That’s different to politically-motivated and Gen. Eleazar himself said that that’s just one of the angles they have been exploring,” Belmonte further explained.
Belmonte also called for the public to stay vigilant for she believes that perpetrators could exploit the election period to commit crimes and then connect the incident to politics.
“Some of us forget that offenders could abuse the election period to commit crimes with a different motive to put the blame on politics. I think that’s exactly what happened. The perpetrators took advantage of the election period so the people could think it’s politically-motivated and divert the investigation,” the acting mayor said.
Also, Belmonte guaranteed the public that she will assure that this will be the last incident of election-related killing in the city and that the local government will work closely with the police to ensure the safety and security of residents.
Quezon City Vice-Mayor Joy Belmonte (Mark Balmores / MANILA BULLETIN)
In an interview, Belmonte stressed that putting the city on the list of election hotspots in the country is ‘premature’ since the city police are still investigating all the possible motives behind the ambush of the barangay chair.
“I don’t think our city should be declared an election hotspot. I think that it is premature and it will only cause panic. It will only cause our people to doubt the integrity of our local government and our police force,” said Belmonte.
Belmonte explained that the incident should not be “considered yet as politically-motivated as other possible angles had been identified as the investigation progresses’’.
“Just like what NCRPO Chief Guillermo Eleazar said, it is election-related only because it occurred in the election period. Many people think that when we say it is an election-related incident, it is politically-motivated already. No, they are two different things," she added.
“When we say election-related, the incident occurred during the election period. That’s different to politically-motivated and Gen. Eleazar himself said that that’s just one of the angles they have been exploring,” Belmonte further explained.
Belmonte also called for the public to stay vigilant for she believes that perpetrators could exploit the election period to commit crimes and then connect the incident to politics.
“Some of us forget that offenders could abuse the election period to commit crimes with a different motive to put the blame on politics. I think that’s exactly what happened. The perpetrators took advantage of the election period so the people could think it’s politically-motivated and divert the investigation,” the acting mayor said.
Also, Belmonte guaranteed the public that she will assure that this will be the last incident of election-related killing in the city and that the local government will work closely with the police to ensure the safety and security of residents.