Mayor's top aide denies 'cult attacks'
No cult attacks but "mere" members of a yet to be determined crime syndicate are responsible in the series of thefts and break-ins in Estancia, Iloilo. And the town's police force is on the job, in control, a top mayor's aide told The News Today (TNT) with major arrests expected in the coming days.
As such, Bert Montilla, Executive Assistant of Estancia Mayor Restituto Mosqueda assured that necessary security measures are in place. Alongside as well are peace and order plans with Montilla adding that no tension exists throughout the town.
The latest to rock Estancia was a hacking incident in Barangay Zone 3 that left one Zaldo Baltazar in critical condition.
In a report, Bombo Radyo Iloilo disclosed of supposed fear and panic setting in at numerous villages of said town particularly during nighttime.
Baltazar, the report continued, was caught by surprise inside his home as he failed to parry the attacks of a male suspect.
Mayor Mosqueda, Montilla said, already spoke with alarmed locals while allaying fears of cult presence here.
It could also be a sick ploy, the mayor was quoted as having said, in order to sow terror in the town as he appealed for continued vigilance of barangay officials and volunteer 'police' in barangay tanods.
The cult presence was likewise reported in other northern Iloilo towns of Sara, Batad and Balasan as well as nearby Capiz towns of Panit-an and Pilar.
Radio reports even had a supposed newlywed couple victimized by the 'cult,' slashed and hacked to pieces with body parts allegedly distributed to members.
Montilla denied such and similar purported incidents saying none has been officially reported and recorded in the town police office's blotter entry.