AFTER the mauling incident involving his candidate for councilor and supporters, Mandaue City mayoral candidate Jonas Cortes is requesting for a security detail assigned to him.
His lawyer, Briccio Boholst, told Sun.Star Cebu yesterday that the incident is considered a threat to Cortes’ security. He will be filing the request in a few days.
Boholst said Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Silverio Alarcio already knows about the incident that happened last Wednesday night.
Separate complaints, he said, will be filed against the suspects for at least seven mauling and harassment cases against their supporters.
Boholst alleged that majority of those incidents involve Frank Simbajon, a close-in bodyguard of Mayor Thadeo Ouano.
“We just keep getting harassed. If they claim to lead in surveys, they shouldn’t be doing this,” Cortes said in a separate interview.
Preventive security in rallies
After Maguikay Barangay Captain Elstone Dabon and his supporters were reportedly mauled in Barangay Banilad last Wednesday, a police car will be deployed to rally sites.
Mandaue City Police Office Director Alexander Abadinas told Sun.Star that teams from the Mobile Patrol Unit on board Nissan Terranos will be deployed to areas near campaign rallies as part of “preventive security.”
The incident has also prompted Acting Mayor Amadeo Seno Jr. to conduct an inventory of all City-owned vehicles.
If the government vehicle involved in Wednesday’s incident belongs to the City, it will be recalled and the driver will be investigated.
Seno, also a mayoral candidate, encouraged Cortes to take photos and videos of traffic enforcers allegedly escorting the campaign rallies of Thadeo Jovito “Jonkie” Ouano.
Armed with Armalites
Dabon, a candidate for councilor under Cortes’ slate, said in an earlier interview that the attack happened when they were on their way to his parked multicab.
Dabon, also the barangay captain of Maguikay, was the last speaker that night and after the activity they returned to the highway.
Upon reaching his multicab, the men arrived in two vehicles. Three of the eight men were armed with Armalite rifles and they searched Dabon and his three companions.
One of the vehicles that were used by the perpetrators had a red plate.
Albert Ceniza, 46, Emilio Misteryo, 46, and Gerry Arnado, 37, suffered injuries in the face, arms and back after they were attacked by armed men.
“Pwerte nakong pakilooy sa nagbunal nako. Mora ko’g irong buang nga gibunalan (They beat me up like they would a mad dog),” Ceniza said in a media forum sponsored by ABS-CBN yesterday.
In the same forum, Seno also said that he is also concerned about the incident because it was the first time such incidents had happened in Mandaue City.
He appealed to his fellow candidates to help keep the elections peaceful. (AAG)
