We Demand Justice”: Prayer Rally Marks First Death Anniversary of South Upi Vice Mayor Roldan Benito
A solemn yet defiant prayer rally was held on Saturday to commemorate the first death anniversary of Vice Mayor Roldan Benito and his security aide, Weng Marcos, who were tragically killed in an ambush on August 2, 2024, in Barangay Pandan.
The event, held in the heart of South Upi, drew family members, local officials, community leaders, and residents who gathered not only to honor the lives lost, but to make a collective cry for justice.
“๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ช๐ญ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ๐ญ๐บ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ค๐ต,” ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ. “๐๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐บ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ค๐ฐ๐ด, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ง๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ ๐๐ฑ๐ช ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ช๐ค ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ด.”
The ambush took place in broad daylight as Vice Mayor Benito, his wife Analyn F. Benito the Chairwoman of Barangay Pandan and their 11-year-old daughter were traveling in a pickup truck. Both Mrs. Benito and their daughter sustained injuries, while Vice Mayor Benito and his aide were killed on the spot.
A laurel-laying ceremony, interfaith prayers, and candle lighting formed part of the program, with mourners calling on law enforcement and the national government to speed up the investigation and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Local leaders emphasized that Vice Mayor Benito was known for his unwavering commitment to Indigenous rights, grassroots development, and peace in the region. His death left a deep void in public service, and a painful reminder of the dangers faced by leaders who challenge violence and corruption.
๐๐ก๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐ง๐๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐๐ข๐๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ: ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐๐๐ง ๐๐๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐จ ๐๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐๐จ๐ฌ, and 27 who were killed and ๐๐ญ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฏ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐. ๐๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐ฏ๐๐ข๐ฅ
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