SAN ANTONIO, Nueva Ecija –
Tension marred the elections for the municipal presidency of the Association of
Barangay Chairmen (ABC) in this town when two barangay chairmen resisted lawmen
trying to arrest them, sparking a commotion and prompting a walk-out by six of
their colleagues here Monday.
The
incident broke out at around 8 am Monday when lawmen from the San Antonio
police served the warrants for the arrest of barangay chairmen Anacoreta Santos
of Barangay San Jose and Roy Juliano of Barangay Sta. Barbara for the crimes of
murder and frustrated murder and grave threat, respectively.
The
two barangay officials who, police said were in hiding for several days, finally
surfaced at the Sangguniang Bayan session hall where the ABC polls were to be
held when accosted by the lawmen.
At
the time the lawmen came in, 16 barangay chairmen were already inside the hall
to take part in the elections.
Aside from Santos and Juliano, they
were barangay chairmen Sonny Garces of Sto. Cristo, Pablo Torres (Hulo), Jojo
Pomeda (Panabingan), Celia Cayman (Maugat), Sally Mendoza (Buliran), Rainier
Umali (Lawang Kupang), Ome Macatunao (Tikiw) and Pepe Gante (Cama Juan), all
allies of Mayor Antonino Lustre; and Tuque Zapata (Poblacion), Amang Carpio (Luyos),
Turne Miranda (Sta. Cruz), Ojie Dionisio (Papaya), Eddie Ostanes (San Francisco)
and Arcie Cruz (San Mariano), who were all supporters of Lustre’s rival,
ex-mayor Arvin Salonga.
Chief
Inspector Marcelino Veneracion, police chief, said they were merely obeying
lawful orders by the court. “We just implemented the warrants of arrest issued
by the court, nothing else. Our actions had nothing to do with the elections,”
he said.
Earlier,
provincial police director Senior Superintendent Crizaldo Nieves issued a
memorandum ordering Veneracion to enforce the twin court orders for the arrest
of the two barangay executives.
Juliano’s
arrest was ordered by San Antonio Municipal Trial Court Judge Voltaire
Venturina for grave threats with recommended bail of P6,000.
Lustre
said Juliano is also serving a 60-day preventive suspension for abuse of
authority and gross misconduct slapped on him by the Sangguniang Bayan for
allegedly verbally abusing and driving away people from the barangay hall.
Vice
Mayor Jose Balagtas said Juliano’s suspension took effect just last December 5
after the SB conducted the investigation and the issues have already been “joined,”
meaning he was asked to explain his side.
Balagtas
explained the suspension - which will last up to February 3, 2014 - was meant
to prevent Juliano from using the powers of his office to intimidate witnesses
and influence the outcome of the investigation.
Surrounded by
their supporters, the two barangay officials however, resisted their arrest.
Lawyer
Arnold Castro,
legal counsel of the two, confronted the arresting lawmen and said the warrants
should have been served after the elections.
The
stand-off lasted for three hours, prompting Nieves to dispatch operatives of
the provincial public safety company (PPSC) to rush to the scene to carry out
the arrest.
The 20-man PPSC
team, led by Inspector Joey Cabating, succeeded in convincing the two barangay
officials to go with them, but not after Zapata’s group walked out of the
session hall. They were detained at the police stockade.
The
elections went on with Garces getting elected as ABC president.
Veneracion
defended the presence of Cabating’s group, saying an augmentation force was
necessary to ensure that the arrests of the two were peaceful and orderly.
He said they have been conducting surveillance operations on
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