THE killing of 40-year-old Juris Doctor graduate Niruh Kyle Antatico in Zone 2, Crossing Kampo Patag, has drawn public outrage amid reports that he had exposed alleged corruption involving government funds for farmers.
Antatico, a former senior legal researcher at the National Irrigation Administration Region 10, was gunned down Friday, Oct. 10, by still unidentified assailants riding in tandem.
Police Maj. Peter Tajor of the Carmen Police Station said Antatico had received death threats as early as November 2024. He assured a swift manhunt for the perpetrators.
Antatico reportedly resigned from his government post and went into business. On social media, he had posted about alleged irregularities in the disbursement of irrigation funds.
“Grabe pud na bisan subsidy sa farmers kawaton,” he wrote in one of his posts.
The incident has since sparked condemnation from colleagues and friends.
Lawyer Bagani Llesis, a fraternity brother from Scintilla Legis, mourned his death and called for justice.
“The country must know, one man has offered his life to expose ghost projects — this time, not in the DPWH, but in the National Irrigation Administration,” Llesis wrote.
He said Antatico had been warned but refused to stay silent.
“His eyes and ears were not ‘buta bungol.’ He received threats when he exposed anomalies in his workplace, yet he did not remain silent,” he added.
Former City Mayor Oscar Moreno also expressed grief, condemning the attack as an assault on free expression.
“Violence must never be the price of speaking one’s mind or standing for what is right,” Moreno said.
He added: “When a young life is taken for reasons rooted in power, fear, or impunity, it is society itself that bleeds.”
He urged the public to honor Antatico’s memory by upholding the courage he embodied — “the courage to question, to seek justice, and to believe that our beloved city, and this country, can still be better.”
