CEBU CITY -- Three months after she survived an ambush, San Fernando, Cebu Mayor Lakambini Reluya on Thursday asked her rival in town politics to stop linking her to drugs.
Reluya, who was injured in the ambush in Talisay City last January 22, vowed to pursue legal action against her rival who, she said, is sowing misinformation about her and her husband, Ricardo Jr., who was killed in the incident.
According to her, President Rodrigo Duterte asked her in one of their meetings who the possible suspect in the ambush was, and vowed to talk to her again about the matter.
She claimed to have also spoken with Davao City Mayor Sara Z. Duterte about the ambush that also killed her two other companions. Reluya and one other passenger of the van they were riding in were injured in the attack.
The town mayor also said that her rival for San Fernando's mayoralty post has been threatening to liquidate her, an allegation that was quickly denied by businessman Ruben Feliciano.
A “kill list” against town politicians, purportedly belonging to Feliciano, circulated on Facebook, but when asked for comment, the businessman declined to give any.
“You said, ‘I will kill you,’ but when you are asked, you said, 'No comment.' That alone is something you need to reflect on. You reflect on your statement,” Reluya said in a radio interview.
She also denied allegations that her family depends on drug money, stressing that while she worked as a member of the academe, her husband Ricardo was busy in his businesses, which included a customs brokerage and surplus vehicle assembly firms.
The mayor believed her rivalry with Feliciano started when she denied the permit for a port operations firm supposed to be owned by the latter.
She also recalled having refused a bribe in connection with the port business.
The mayor, along with Ricardo, is facing charges filed by Feliciano before the Office of the Ombudsman - Visayas.
One of the charges was dismissed, Reluya said.
Commission on Elections - Cebu provincial election supervisor Jerome Brillantes earlier said San Fernando is one of the “areas of concern” in the May 13 elections because of intense political rivalry. (PNA)
