Death came at 2:30 dawn of Sunday, July 30 when power went off in barangay San Roque Lawis in Ozamiz City.
“We’re used to brownouts so we did not mind,” said one resident.
Moments later, gunfire erupted in a compound owned by the family of Mayor Reynaldo “Aldong” Parojinog Sr. Among the fatalities were: the Ozamiz City Mayor, his brother Misamis Occidental Board Member Octavio Jr., the Mayor’s wife Susan, and 12 others who were also killed in raids for illegal drugs and loose firearms conducted by police.
The Mayor’s daughter, Vice Mayor Nova Princess Echavez, and son Reynaldo Jr. were arrested, along with others who were in the same location during the raid.
When you hear “Parojinog”, most people associate the name with the notorious Kuratong Baleleng group.
Mayor Aldong Sr. was one of the sons of the late Octavio “Ongkoy” Parojinog Sr., founder of the Kuratong Baleleng that was originally composed of militiamen and soldiers, organized by the military in 1986 to go after the communist New People’s Army in Mindanao. Ongkoy Sr. was killed in 1990.
A 2004 report by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism said that while the Kuratong Baleleng was a notorious group of bank robbers who met a bloody end in a supposed shootout with the police one May morning in 1995 in Quezon City, they were well-loved in Ozamiz City, having played “godfathers” and acted as “Robin Hoods” giving out cash and dole-outs in their locality. They were also very well-connected in Ozamiz, even when no one denied it was a criminal syndicate engaged in kidnap-for-ransom, bank robberies, extortion, illegal drugs, carnapping, and other illegal activities as insurgency-related incidents waned after the 1986 EDSA.
Because of their popularity inspite of their notoriety, the family members eventually joined the political arena, winning elective positions in Ozamis City and in the Province of Misamis Occidental.
Last year, President Duterte linked the Parojinogs to the drug trade, which was promptly denied by the family, saying that Mayor Parojinog was even an active anti-drug campaigner.
Following the July 30 ambush on their home, numerous questions arose based on the differing accounts, especially that the leader of the raid, PNP Chief Jovy Espenido was previously linked to the arrest — and the killing while in detention — of another mayor in Leyte who was also linked to the illegal drug trade.
Distrust is mutual, as each side carried differing agenda into the operation, and bringing differing narratives out of it.
Motive becomes an issue, and they all had every reason to lie. Because their self-serving accounts vary so widely, the exact details of the ambush are unknown or may be mysteriously brushed over.
Lingering questions include whether fair warning was given the victims before the firing or alleged shoot-out began; whether the Mayor and other family members had been classified as a “shoot-on-sight” candidates for being highly-valuable targets in the President’s war on drugs.
Whatever the truth, the legend of the Parojinogs of Ozamiz City is a tale of the rise and evolution of a criminal gang, transforming and gaining legitimacy by winning elective positions in government.
That is why no one is surprised, knowing that elections are mired with the 3 Gs: guns, goons, gold.
Let everyone be reminded that a parable recounts: Then Jesus told Peter to put his sword away, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. (Matthew 26:52) Violence begets violence.
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Author’s email: whelmayap@yahoo.com
