BOGO City Mayor Celestino “Junie” Martinez Jr. is ready to face the charges the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) will be filing against him and some city and barangay officials.
Martinez, in a radio interview, also said he is not surprised by the CPPO recommendation because the police are under the control of Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, who is their political foe.
He said the complaints do not have basis. He questioned how the investigators were able to identify the names of those involved in the snatching of a ballot box when it was so chaotic that time.
Martinez pointed out that even the 10-member committee that he created to identify those who mauled Sun.Star Cebu photo group chief Alex Badayos was not able to come up with names because it was hard to identify those who were involved.
He said it is obvious that the Comelec and the police are conniving to pin him down.
This is the reason Martinez has filed administrative and criminal complaints against CPPO Director Carmelo Valmoria and Comelec’s Eddie Aba before the Office of the Ombudsman and the interior and local government department.
His complaint against Valmoria includes a petition that the police official be suspended pending the resolution of the case.
In a separate interview, Valmoria admitted relieving five police officers from Bogo, saying this was to “professionalize” the police organization.
He explained that the five officers refused to give their statements when they were conducting an investigation on the snatching of a ballot box last July 9 because they were “afraid of the mayor.”
“I am just for the professionalization of the PNP when the organization is at stake. If you are a policeman, you defend the organization,” he told reporters yesterday.
Valmoria did not like the attitude of the five officers, saying they should not be afraid to be reassigned to any other place in the country because the PNP is “national in scope.”
He already submitted his explanation to the secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), the DILG regional director and Mayor Martinez.
Martinez, in a radio interview yesterday morning, said he raised the problem to the DILG, saying Valmoria could not professionalize his force if police officers were taken away from their families.
Invoking a provision in the Local Government Code stating the mayor had supervision and control over his police force, Martinez said Valmoria failed to consult him before implementing the order.
Valmoria, when asked about this, said he already sent his explanation.
The five officers are scattered in different police stations.
As for the presence of the Special Reaction Unit in the compound of the Bogo City Regional Trial Court, Valmoria said there was a letter from Rep. Benhur Salimbangon requesting them to secure the premises due to “suspicious-looking” persons in the vicinity.
But this was only for a few days as he requested the Philippine Army to take over because the PNP had already “overstretched” their duties since the May 14 polls.
He declined to comment when asked about Martinez’s claims that he was forced to “hide under Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia’s skirts” because he wanted the post at the CPPO.
“I just want to make this on record. I am willing to be assigned anywhere in the Philippines. In fact, I have been assigned in Samar and Leyte. I have been assigned in Bogo in 1992. He knows about my principles,” he said.
Asked if they had any prior encounters with Martinez before the ballot snatching incident in Bogo, he said: “You ask the mayor. Mine was only to implement the law.”
He said he only learned about the Martinez camp filing a case against him in when he read Sun.Star Cebu. He said it was their right to do so.
“I was only doing my job,” he added.
With affidavits from several witnesses and photos of the incident, Cebu City Election Officer for the North District Marchel Sarno believes they have a strong case against Martinez.
Sarno said they have witnesses against Martinez, including himself, other Comelec and police personnel and members of the media who were at the Bogo City Hall last July 9.
Aside from the affidavits, the Comelec and the police also have photos and video footage of the incident where Martinez’s supporters grabbed the ballot box when Sarno picked this up from City Hall.
“We have more than enough pieces of evidence. We already have the affidavits and photos that would show what happened at City Hall that day and surely, we have a case against Mayor Martinez,” Sarno told Sun.Star Cebu.
Sarno said the Comelec regional office has submitted the recommendations of the CPPO officials to the Comelec central office, which in turn will appoint personnel who will be tasked to conduct a preliminary investigation.
They will then come up with recommendations to the Comelec law department, whose lawyers will determine if there is probable cause to file the case, Sarno said.
Meanwhile, Martinez is confident that they will win in the election protest that they filed against Salimbangon (Cebu, 4th district) before the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal.
He again accused the Comelec of conniving with Salimbangon because the nuisance candidate Edelito Martinez was only disqualified after the elections.
This means ballots with only Martinez for congressman have been considered stray and this had impact on the candidacy of his son, Celestino “Tining” Martinez III. (MBG/MEA/LCR)
