CAGAYAN ORO CITY, Philippines – The suspect in the shooting deaths of former Basilan mayor Rosita Furigay and two others at the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) in Quezon City on Sunday, July 24, was a known sworn enemy and staunch critic of the politician and her husband.

Until 2019, physician Chao Tiao Yumol rubbed elbows with the Furigays and even visited the former mayor occasionally at her city hall office.

Their relationship turned sour after the then-mayor Furigay had Dr. Yumol’s infirmary closed down on orders from the then-health minister Saffrullah Dipatuan of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

Play Video

The region’s health ministry issued an April 5, 2019 cease-and-desist order on the Yumol-owned People’s Clinic for operating without a license from the BARMM in Barangay Maligaya, Lamitan City.

Dr. Shalmalynne Ampatuan, a deputy cluster head of the BARMM health ministry, directed Yumol to stop the clinic’s operations or risk getting sued and being shut down with the help of the Lamitan city government.

Two months later, then-minister Dipatuan wrote Furigay and asked that city hall shut down Yumol’s clinic. 

In his June 24, 2019 letter to Furigay, Dipatuan said the BARMM health ministry had sent the clinic a notice of violation and even gave Yumol a month to comply but he did not apply for a license to operate.

Furigay followed the BARMM health ministry, issued another cease-and-desist order, and had it served immediately.

City hall’s order did not sit well with Yumol and he quickly turned into an enemy of Furigay and her husband Roderick who was then serving as Lamitan’s vice mayor.

Roderick, the first city mayor of Lamitan, succeeded his wife on June 30.

After the shutdown, the physician became a staunch critic of the Furigays almost overnight, accusing them of corruption and involvement in the local drug trade, allegations that the couple denied.

The physician has been frank, irreverent, loud, and even toxic on social media where he has been tongue-lashing local and national politicians, including former vice president Leni Robredo whose failed presidential bid in May the former mayor supported. Rosita’s husband supported President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s bid though.

Dr. Yumol’s accusations were so serious that Basilan’s Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC), Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Council (PADAC), and Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (PDRRM) met and approved a joint resolution on November 19, 2020, clearing Furigay’s husband from accusations that he was involved in the illicit trade in any way.

For signing the joint resolution, Yumol did not spare Basilan Governor Jim Hataman Salliman from his tirades.

The Furigays and several city hall employees subjected by Yumol to his accusations and sharp criticisms filed several dozen cyber libel cases against him as early as 2019.

One of the earliest cases resulted in his arrest by the police outside Basilan on September 24, 2019.

In response, Yumol took to social media on October 1, 2019, and called his arrest his “battle scar” which he was proud of.

Yumol posted his police mugshot on his Facebook wall and stated that “when this fight is over,” it would hang on his clinic wall “as a testament [to] this struggle to liberate Lamitan and its people against 2 decades of corrupt politicians who drained public funds dry that even the most basic of services are denied from the poorest of the poor. 

He added: “Until my last drop of blood and breath, I will fight for Lamitan.”

In the end, it was Rosita Furigay’s blood that was spilled on the Ateneo grounds in Quezon City. 

Along with Lamitan city hall executive assistant Victor George Capistrano, and Ateneo guard Jeneven Bandiala, the former mayor was killed right before her daughter Hannah who was scheduled to graduate and receive her law degree on Sunday. 

Hannah was wounded in the gun attack and was rushed to a hospital where she is recuperating as of this posting.

Police arrested Yumol following a chase.

Furigay had planned to retire from politics and go back to business after she completed three consecutive terms as Lamitan mayor. She was succeeded by her husband.

The couple established a political dynasty in Lamitan that never saw a mayor other than the Furigays since it became a city years ago. – Rappler.com