Malilong: Close political contest in Tuburan
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WHATEVER happened to the case of he graduating Cebu Doctors University nursing student who was killed because she panicked when three men on a motorcycle robbed her of mobile phone?
The alleged perpetrators were arrested when the fence who bought the phone squealed. They admitted the crime to reporters, saying they were thrill-seeking when they chanced upon the poor girl. They recanted their admission in court, however.
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I was reminded of that case when I read about the killing of a 14-year-old altar boy in Banawa in broad daylight last Sunday.
The circumstances in the two murders are strikingly similar: both victims were robbed of their cell phones; they both panicked and were shot; there were three robbers; and the robbers rode on a motorcycle.
The way it looks, it will probably take a stroke of good luck for the policemen to arrest the boy’s killers. If they do and the murderers are charged, let’s hope that the wheels of justice move swiftly than usual.
As for the case of the nursing student, let’s hope that it has been decided already or that if it hasn’t yet, judgment is forthcoming.
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Tuburan Councilor Marie Tabotabo called to correct reports, which I mentioned in this column, that she grabbed the microphone from town Mayor Constancio Suezo while he was speaking before the Municipal Council.
“I did no such thing,” Tabotabo declared vehemently. “The two of us were holding one mike each.”
Tabotabo, if you will recall, was ordered suspended by her colleagues for alleged misbehavior because of the supposed mike-grabbing. She was, however, not so worried about the suspension, which she says is illegal, as she was with the impression that her students might get from the report. (Marie teaches in one of the local universities.)
“I have been teaching them the value of discipline,” Tabotabo rued, “and here I am being pictured as rowdy, rude and ill-mannered.”
Observers said that her case is symptomatic of the political tension in my father’s hometown where for the first time in so many elections, the ascendancy of the Geronas is facing a serious challenge from, of all people, a political neophyte.
The Gerona family has ruled Tuburan for about twenty years. The incumbent mayor is not running for re-election. It is his wife Rosemarie who is the candidate, seeking the post that she held until 2007.
She is facing stiff opposition from Democrito “Aljun” Diamante, a businessman from Barangay Cogon. From humble beginnings, Diamante rose to become one of Tuburan’s more successful entrepreneurs, earning his fortune in customs brokerage and cargo handling in Cagayan de Oro.
Despite his lack of political experience, Diamante has made the mayoralty race very interesting by doing a house-to-house campaign especially in the mountain barangays that are considered the traditional political bailiwick of the Geronas.
The contest is so close and so intense that old skeletons are being dug up. For example, an old case that has been lying idle in a Lapu-Lapu City court is being resurrected in an effort to portray Diamante as a smuggler.
Diamante continues to profess innocence, saying that his participation in the transaction that was supposed to have constituted smuggling was unproven. “I was only a mere employee then. How could I have committed smuggling?” he asked.
He said that the prosecution’s evidence failed to establish any link between him and the crime charged, which is why his lawyer filed a demurrer to the evidence. Unfortunately for him, that motion remains pending.
It’s going to be a figuratively bloody fight for mayor in Tuburan. Who between the challenger and the defending champion will remain standing after the bout is anybody’s guess.
