House detains cop linked to 2018 assassination of Tanauan mayor Halili
MANILA, Philippines – The House of Representatives ordered on Tuesday, October 22, the detention of Police Captain Kenneth Paul Albotra, who was tagged by his former boss, retired police colonel Royina Garma, in the killing of Tanauan, Batangas Mayor Antonio Halili in July 2018.
The quad committee approved a motion introduced by public accounts panel chairperson Abang Lingkod Representative Caraps Paduano to cite Albotra in contempt for supposedly lying to lawmakers.
Paduano lost his patience after Albotra failed to answer why one former subordinate of him was killed, and why another was relieved.
“You are such a liar. Unless we corner you, you won’t give the right answer. Those two are your people, and you don’t know it?” Paduarno said of Albotra.
Albotra disputed on Tuesday claims made by Garma on October 11 that the former bragged about his involvement in the killing of Halili in 2018.
“Never did I remember saying something like that,” Albotra also said of the purported conversation he had with Garma in which he supposedly admitted to the killing of Halili. “Sorry, but Colonel Garma is lying.”
Garma, however, stood by her testimony linking Albotra to the killing of Halili.
“He will have a guilty conscience because I treated him very well when I was the police director of Cebu City,” Garma said. “I can look straight into his eyes. I am not lying; he is lying, and he is a coward.”
During the hearing, former Los Baños, Laguna councilor Norvin Tamisin said he believes that Albotra also had a hand in the killing of Los Baños mayor Caesar Perez in December 2020.
Both Tamisin and Albotra were accused of involvement in the illegal drug trade, and their killings are believed to be extrajudicial in nature.
Albotra claimed he was in Cebu when the assassinations of Halili and Perez took place. – Rappler.com