Zamboanga City postpones Yuletide festival launch following murder of village chair
By Liza Jocson
ZAMBOANGA CITY – Mayor John Dalipe postponed the traditional switch-on of Christmas lights at City Hall signaling the start of the annual Christmas Festival dubbed “Festival Navidad” in light of the brutal killing of a barangay captain here on Friday, December 1.

DALIPE
Dalipe appealed for public understanding after some quarters expressed disappointment over the decision to postpone the event.
He said that he decided to postpone the event as a sign of respect to the family of Barangay Cawit Chairman Selverio “Beyong” Molina, who was shot dead on his to the barangay hall, and his constituents.
https://mb.com.ph/2023/12/1/barangay-captain-shot-dead-in-zamboanga-city
The decision also serves as a collective expression of protest against the spate of shooting incidents in the city, Dalipe said.
Dalipe expressed deep sadness and anger over the “barbaric act of violence and impunity made against a public official, and (more so) against the people of Zamboanga City.”
“I condemn in the strongest terms possible this brutality which has no place in our society.”