Monday, May 14, 2007 Zaspa’s son gets arrested By Mia A. Abellana Sun.Star Staff Reporter With Jovy S. Taghoy
BANTAYAN Island - The son of a mayoral candidate in Sta. Fe town was arrested for possession of a firearm at a checkpoint last night.
Dindo Zaspa, 32, son of mayoral aspirant Domingo Zaspa, was with eight other men on board a black Ford Explorer pick-up when they were stopped at a checkpoint beside the Sta. Fe Police Station.
Since the island was placed under Comelec control, all gun ban exemptions have been revoked.
A few hours before Zaspa’s arrest, authorities at a checkpoint in Madridejos town stopped at 5:30 p.m. 16 men in a van registered to Rodrigo and Roberto Mancio.
Initial reports had it that the 16 were hired by reelectionist Madri-dejos Mayor Lety Mancio; the police got suspicious because they were out-of-towners who had no specific business in town.
After being held in the town’s sports complex, where Army troops are billeted, all 16 were released at 7:40 p.m. No contraband was found.
One of them, however, turned out to be one of the five men arrested last May 3 in the same northern town for carrying high-powered weapons. All five are now out on bail. Mancio said the five were her guards and objected to their being described as “goons.”
Hope
There are currently 300 police and military personnel in Bantayan Island: organic personnel of the town police stations and augmentation troops from the Regional Mobile Group, Special Reaction Unit and the 78th Infantry Battalion.
All three towns in the island were placed under the control of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) after the fatal shooting, outside the Comelec office in the Capitol compound, of Sta. Fe mayoral candidate Rogelio Ilustrisimo Sr.
Mayoral aspirant Zaspa and former policeman Arnulfo Pigon Jr. were charged with Ilustrisimo’s murder.
Interviewed before yester-day’s incidents, Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Silverio Alarcio Jr. said he believes they will achieve Hope (honest, orderly and peaceful elections) today.
“There’s nothing to worry about. Everything is under control. The elections will be peaceful and orderly,” he told reporters yesterday.
Rounds
Two other police officials are similarly optimistic.
Acting Cebu Provincial Police Director Carmelo Valmo-ria, who visited Camotes Island yesterday as a final stop in his province-wide inspections, said their security focus will now shift to polling places.
Checkpoints will be sustained with the Army’s help.
Acting Cebu City Police Director Patrocinio Comenda-dor, in a separate interview, said that so far, the minor election-related problem they encountered was during yester-day’s distribution of ballots and other paraphernalia at the Cebu City Hall.
Comendador said he sent a team of policemen to help manage the crowd.
Comendador made the rounds of all the police stations and the mountain barangays yesterday, to make sure everything was in place for today’s elections.
For his part, Alarcio paid a visit to the three towns of Bantayan Island yesterday afternoon “to peep” into the preparations. “Mababait ang mga tao dito. They were very obedient and compliant sa mga rules and regulations issued by the task force,” he said.
Curfew
In Bantayan, Comelec task force commander Eliseo Labaria has imposed a curfew at 10 p.m. and revoked all gun ban exemptions.
Nine persons were arrested for violation of the curfew at dawn yesterday in Bantayan town.
The nine men were spotted at the town plaza. However, they were released after the curfew elapsed.
Shortly before Zaspa’s arrest last night, Sta. Fe Police Chief Insp. Jose Rovic Villarin said that one of his men, PO1 Arvin Torreon, was the first to see the gun under the driver’s seat.
Villarin said that his men were eating supper when they decided to hold the checkpoint in front of the eatery, which is across from the station.
The handle of the .45 pistol was what caught Torreon’s eye, and he immediately informed Villarin.
Villarin then pointed a flashlight at the floor and saw the gun.
The passengers told police they did not know the firearm was there.
Gun ban
Villarin said they still have to verify if the gun’s serial number is registered.
Aside from Zaspa, police also detained Rico Plenos, 42, Dic-se Capacite, 25, Jerson Dabo, 37, Rosito Arriesgado Jr., 42, Crisanto Paciano, 24, Jessel Tipon-tipon, 18, Ryan Batobalonos, 18, and driver Leodegario Batiancela, 40.
The pick-up was registered to Maria Lourdes Ledesma of Las Piñas City.
All nine will be charged with illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition and violation of the Comelec gun ban. Villarin said they did not resist.
Dindo’s sister Delma, allegedly asked that police not keep him inside the detention cell “for humanitarian reasons.” Villarin, however, said he could not grant this request because it was improper.
“Hugaw man kuno. Ako na lang giingnan nga amo lang palimpyohan (She said it was dirty. I told her we would have it cleaned up),” said the police chief.
Reports
During his visit, Alarcio also ordered Bantayan Island subtask group head Julian Entoma to talk directly to sources of reports of armed men patrolling the towns.
“Maraming report-report, minsan hindi naman totoo (Some of these reports aren’t true),” he said.
A team from the Regional Maritime Group is in the island with a patrol boat to escort the board of election inspectors with their election materials and to make sure the surrounding seas are secure.
