Cagayan de Oro’s two congressmen, Rufus Rodriguez and Lordan Suan, condemn the killing, and hint at a possible congressional investigation into the whistleblower’s murder and exposés
CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines – Friends had warned whistleblower Niruh Kyle Antatico to take it easy.
“Ayaw pagkompyansa, barato ra kaayo ang kinabuhi karon,” one of them told him. (Don’t let your guard down because life is cheap these days.)
But Antatico refused to stop. The former senior legal researcher at the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) in Northern Mindanao said he could not turn away from the farmers who came to him, pleading for help.
Percival Batar, a close friend and teammate in their Saturday football club, told Rappler that their last conversation on October 4 was again about the alleged corruption inside NIA, the supposedly unfinished and “ghost” irrigation projects and overpriced materials, and the death threats Antatico had been receiving after his posts on social media.
Six days later, on Friday, October 10, Antatico was shot dead in broad daylight while driving a car near a military camp along a busy road in Barangay Patag, Cagayan de Oro.
Batar said on Monday, October 13, that Antatico had recently resigned from NIA after being transferred from the legal office to procurement. Batar said the reassignment came after Antatico wrote a letter, made public on Facebook, addressed to Administrator Eduardo Guillen, Regional Manager Larry Franada, and Lanao del Sur Manager...
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