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Thursday, April 22, 2004
Durano brods tangle
EVEN before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) decides on which areas will need it to assume jurisdiction on May 10, opposing parties in Danao City are already arguing which of them should be heard in the decision to put it under Comelec control.
Danao City Mayor Ramon “Nito” Durano III wrote Provincial Election Supervisor Edwin Cadu-ngog to ask him to deny the request of Jesus “Don” Durano, his elder brother and rival for the mayoral post, to “remove” the northern component city from Comelec control.
But officials of the poll body, together with the police and military, have not even decided yet if any area should be placed under Comelec control at all.
Comelec, the PNP, AFP and the Cebu-Citizens Involvement and Maturation for People’s Empowerment and Liberation (C-Cimpel) are still to meet on April 27 to assess the peace and order situation in Cebu and the rest of Region 7.
In his letter to Cadungog, Nito linked intense political rivalry, the presence of paramilitary forces, harassment of teachers, and history of violence to his brother Don.
Don not only harassed teachers serving in the elections and their supporters in the past but also shot Sogod Vice Mayor Thaddeus “Deo” Durano, his younger brother, in 1988 and slapped a sister in 2001 because of politics, Nito noted.
“Evidently, given the personalities running for election on May 10, the probability of violence is high,” Nito said in his letter.
Even with the “negative connotation” of putting his area of jurisdiction under Comelec control, “larger interests of our city and people require us to resort to this remedy.”
The mayor pointed out that the presence of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Danao is another cause for concern.
He furnished Cadungog a copy of a letter dated Oct. 15, 2003 yet asking him to “meet our authorized negotiator within 15 days so as to remove possible complications upon your political plans relative to the forthcoming elections.”
The letter, apparently from the Arnulfo Ortiz Regional Operational Command of the NPA, was signed by one Ka Isagani Silang.
The PNP earlier submitted a report to regional Comelec officials that listed 18 towns and cities in as election areas of concern.
Danao was one of the places recommended for close watch because of election-related violent incidents in the past.
(April 22, 2004 issue)
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