By Niño Luces
DARAGA, Albay - The widow of slain Ako Bicol Party-list Representative Rodel Batocabe has finally announced her intention to run as mayor of Daraga in the 2019 midterm polls.
Gertrudes "Gertie" Duran-Batocabe
(Facebook / MANILA BULLETIN)
Gertrudes "Gertie" Duran-Batocabe, accompanied by her lawyer son Justin and Albay governor Al Francis Bichara, announced that she would replace her slain husband to face detained mayor Carlwyn "Awin" Baldo and acting mayor Victor Perete in the polls.
Congressman Rodel Batocabe and his police escort SPO2 Orlando Diaz were shot to death while on a gift-giving mission to senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs) in a remote village of Daraga town last December 22, 2018.
Incumbent Daraga Mayor Carlwyn Baldo was tagged as the mastermind in the killings of Batocabe and Diaz.
Baldo was arrested by the police for illegal possession of firearms, ammunition, and explosives during a raid at his residence in Brgy. Tagas, Daraga.
Gertie Batocabe, a graduate of Mass Communication from the University of the Philippines, said that President Rodrigo Duterte supports her candidacy as well as the governor of Albay.