Thursday, April 26, 2007
Was it harassment?
THE Tribu Guardo/Genuine Opposition (GO) will be filing charges against several Cebu City policemen who allegedly “harassed” its supporters during a checkpoint along V. Rama Ave., Barangay Calamba Tuesday night.
Congressional aspirant Jonathan Guardo, GO Cebu City head, called a press conference yesterday noon along with other GO candidates and narrated how he was supposed to be the policemen’s target.
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“They blocked my vehicle, which I have been using. I had them use the vehicle because they had somewhere to go,” he said, referring to three of his staff members whom the policemen allegedly blocked and pointed guns at.
Limuel Solapas, 37, said he was with Ronald Rosel and Al Bitay in a Nissan Starex van on their way to meet Guardo’s leaders in Calamba around 10 p.m. when a blue Nissan Strada blocked their path.
He said policemen, who introduced themselves as Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Bureau (CIIB) operatives, asked them to disembark at gunpoint.
Rosel, he said, was pulled out from the driver’s seat.
Swat too
Solapas said the policemen, several of whom were in civilian clothes, were led by Senior Insp. George Ylanan.
He said at least 15 Mobile Patrol Group (MPG) and Special Weapons and Tactics (Swat) patrol cars led by Chief Insp. Arnel Banzon then arrived and augmented the CIIB policemen.
Solapas also identified a Lt. (Inspector) Pardillo as among the CIIB policemen who accosted them.
Solapas said he was told the policemen were responding to an armed person alarm and that the suspects were riding their van.
Ylanan and Mobile Patrol Group Chief Arnel Banzon, however, said the police was merely responding to an armed person alarm on board a white Starex van.
Ylanan and Banzon, in separate interviews, said they were not aware that the passengers were supporters of Guardo, who is running for the south district congressional seat.
Ylanan said the police hotline 166 received a call from a concerned citizen past 9 p.m. Tuesday.
A radio communication was then dispatched to all the police patrol cars in the south district to respond to the alarm and to put up roadblocks.
Ylanan said the first information they received was that the car was spotted in Barangay Inayawan. The car was intercepted along V. Rama Ave.
As a standard operating procedure, Ylanan said “we use the necessary force against a reported armed person.” He, however, pointed out that only a “visual search” was made inside the car and the three passengers.
Nothing
Since nothing illegal was found, they allowed the car to go.
Solapas said, though, the police thoroughly searched the van but found nothing except Guardo’s campaign posters, which were taken out of the vehicle and placed on the ground while the search was done.
Lahug Barangay Captain Mary Ann delos Santos, who is running for mayor, said what happened showed that the administration party, Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan, is not engaging them in a “high-level campaign.”
Guardo said the incident should serve as another compelling reason for the Comelec to consider GO’s earlier request to place mountain barangays under the poll body’s control.
In a dyLA interview, south district Congressman Antonio Cuenco said it is Guardo who is harassing his supporters and causing turmoil in Cebu City.
“Wala may samok ang pulitika sa Sugbo sa una. Nagpadala man gud na siya’g mga batang linti sa Sugbo gikan sa Surigao nga manghasi sa patag hasta sa bukid. Siya’y aggressor, not me,” he said.
“There is no reason for me to do that (harass residents) because I am way ahead in the surveys,” he added. (RHM/JST)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (April 26, 2007 issue)
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