CLARIN, MISAMIS OCCIDENTAL—The remains of Clarin town Mayor David Navarro is now laid at his residence in Barangay Lapasan here, while the vice mayor has immediately succeeded as the town’s top local executive.
Navarro’s white coffin, draped with the national flag, arrived at the Ozamiz City port past 6:30 a.m. last Sunday, two days after the mayor was slain in Cebu City, while being transported to the city prosecutor’s office for the inquest proceedings of the charges he is facing for mauling a masseur.
In a hall decorated with white fresh flowers, floors covered with a green mat, the remains were placed beside Navarro’s blown-up photograph.
The family asked for an exclusive time until 12 noon after which visitors started to arrive.
Bonifacio Town Mayor Samson Dumanjog, who is also the president of the League of Municipalities in the Philippines-Misamis Occidental chapter, was the first to visit the wake.
In an interview with the media, Dumanjog said the death of his fellow mayor is still very hard to accept.
He expressed hope that justice for the slain mayor will be served, as he called on concerned agencies to help in the investigation.
“At least mahatagan pud nato ang pamilya kay mao man pud ni ilang gikinahanglan. Ug kanang due process of law [At least the family can be given justice because that is what the family needs now, and due process of the law],” Dumanjog said in the interview.
The Navarro family has scheduled the burial on November 3, just beside their house.
Succession
Meanwhile, the municipal vice mayor of Clarin has taken her oath 4 p.m., Friday, two hours after Navarro died.
Emeterio Roa Jr., head of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, said Vice Mayor Glorife Roa, her mother, took her oath before a judge from Ozamiz City.
On Monday, the municipal’s first councilor, Mel Davidson Navarro, will take his oath as the vice mayor.
Mel is David’s second child whose elder brother died in a suicide last year. Mel took the position vacated by his brother. In 2019 elections, Mel ran and won.
The younger Roa, who spoke to the media on behalf of the new mayor, said there are three priorities that the new administration will undertake on Monday.
Glorife will issue an executive order designating Emeterio as the new municipal administrator and an order that only wages and salaries shall be disbursed while the local government unit is still undergoing a transition period.
“Then our new mayor will meet the heads of office to start our work. While we mourn the passing of Mayor Navarro, we have to continue the operation in the municipal hall,” Emeterio said.
Some two weeks ago, the slain mayor claimed
he met with President Duterte in Manila, supposedly to convince the latter that
he was not involved in the illegal-drug trade.
In a video interview with a local
media outfit, Navarro—who was named on the President’s “narco list”—said he was
elated at having been given the chance to speak with the President.
The interview resurfaced on social media last Saturday, a day after Navarro was killed in an ambush in Cebu City.
“Kalooy sa Ginoo…Kay ang atoa lang man nga maka-atubang ta niya, kay duna gud tay kamatuoran nga dala. Siguro nakita sa Presidente ang atong pagka-matinud-anon [By God’s mercy, we only wanted to meet the President because the truth is on our side. Perhaps the President saw that we were truthful],” Navarro said in the interview.
Navarro said all barangays in Clarin had been declared drug-free and that he had no record in the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) being involved in the illegal-drug trade.
“Sa record sa PDEA sa region wala tay involvement sa drugs. Sa record sa PNP wala tay involvement sa drugs. So, maoy rason nga naka-atubang ta sa President [Based on the record from the PDEA, we don’t have any involvement of drugs. The Philippine National Police also said the same],” he said.
Navarro believed that if Duterte had doubted his personality, the latter would not have entertained him because “I am just an ordinary person.”
Navarro said, his younger brother, former Misamis Occidental board member Dan Navarro, was appointed the regional director of Technical Education Skills and Development Authority in Region 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula).
The younger Navarro reportedly started serving his appointment on October 15.
“Kung duna may pagduda ang Presidente sa among pamilya, walay hinungdan nga iyang i-hire nga kauban sa iyang administrasyon. [If the President had doubts on our family, there’s no reason why the administration would hire one of our own],” the mayor said.
Navarro was waylaid by unknown gunmen on M. Velez Street in Cebu City, at around 2:30 p.m. on Friday while inside the van en route to the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office.
He was supposed to undergo inquest for charges of slight physical injuries and acts of lasciviousness.
Navarro was No. 31 on President Duterte’s list of at least 40 alleged narco politicians, released in March this year.