Saturday, April 21, 2007 Politics didn’t cause firing
THE Cebu Provincial Police Office ruled out politics in the firing of a gun at a beach resort last Wednesday dawn.
Acting CPPO Director Carmelo Valmoria and Insp. Felix Lapera admitted that there were different versions as to what happened but said the incident was not enough to recommend placing the town under the control of the Commission on Elections.
“The incident had no bearing on the election,” Valmoria said.
He added that the report submitted to his office was classified as an illegal discharge of firearm and not a shooting incident.
All three towns in Bantayan Island have been declared election areas of concern due to political tension and alleged presence of armed men.
Until the police can prove that the shooting at of four persons in Sta. Fe town last Thursday is election-related, Bantayan Island will remain an election area of concern.
Cebu Provincial Election Supervisor Lionel Castillano said he has yet to discuss the incident with the Sta. Fe election officer and the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 officials.
In a phone interview yesterday, Castillano said he will wait to get the facts on the incident before deciding whether he should recommend to raise Bantayan’s status as an area of concern to an area of immediate concern, or place it under Comelec control.
‘Difficult’
“It’s difficult to change the status when the PNP itself cannot conclude yet that the incident is election-related. It could just be an ordinary crime,” he told Sun.Star Cebu.
With three weeks left before the May 14 polls and a volatile political situation in some areas in Cebu, Castillano said he will require all election officers in the province to submit a peace and order report once a week.
Prior to the two shooting incidents in the towns of Madridejos and Sta. Fe, election officers were required to submit a peace and order report only once a month.“We will do it weekly this time so we will be able to assess the peace and order right away, especially since the situation is very fluid these days,” Castillano said.
In coordination with the police station chief of a locality, the election officer recommends to the provincial election supervisor action on any election-related incident.
The election supervisor then elevates the matter to Comelec Regional Director Rene Buac, who in turn submits a recommendation to Comelec Commissioner Resureccion Borra, the commissioner-in-charge for Central Visayas.
Four men alleged that a watchman of Budyong Beach, owned by Sta. Fe mayoral aspirant Domingo Zaspa, shot at them.
However, Lapera said Zaspa claimed the gunshots came from the four men, who allegedly attempted to enter his resort.
He advised Zaspa to report their version to the Sta. Fe Police Station.
In a radio interview yesterday, Lapera said he does not believe politics had something to do with the incident, saying one of the four was related to Zaspa and could not have been Mayor Roger Ilustrisimo’s supporter.
Zaspa is running against Ilustrisimo’s father, town councilor Rogelio Ilustrisimo Sr.
Lapera claimed that they went to the beach to investigate the claims of the four but were unable to talk to the watchman. As of yesterday, the watchman remained unidentified.
Valmoria said Supt. Erson Digal, who he was temporarily designated as head of the subtask force in Bantayan Island, already spoke with the camps of Ilustrisimo and Zaspa.
Today, he will be replaced by Chief Insp. Julian Entoma, who heads the 703rd Provincial Mobile Group (PMG).
Entoma will bring with him additional personnel for the subtask force. He declined to disclose the number.
Valmoria said that for now, his men are concentrated on Madridejos after a political supporter was shot at last Tuesday.
He has ordered them to intensify checkpoints in the barangays, especially during night time. (MEA/LCR/With JECT of Superbalita)
