Friday, August 29, 2008 Wenceslao: Circus in Talisay City By Bong O. Wenceslao Candid Thoughts
BEFORE yesterday’s raid on the residence of Joavan Fernandez in Bulacao, Talisay City I told Sun.Star reporter GC of my theory: Mayor Soc Fernandez’s son won’t spend a day in jail even if a warrant of arrest is issued against him. (Why has the issuance of a warrant of arrest against Joavan taken an eternity?) It’s obvious we are being toyed with.
Joavan was not among those nabbed for the abduction and mauling weeks ago of two vulcanizing shop workers. That was consistent with the scheme; okay, call it “drama.” He was not arrested when he surfaced at the Talisay City Hall twice despite a hot pursuit. And with cases filed, Joavan can only be arrested now by securing a warrant.
In the interim, his pals, arrested immediately after the mauling, are languishing in jail. Then Joavan grabbed the limelight twice for unflattering reasons: he threatened employees of a gasoline station for refusing to give him a car freshener and he had a “joyride” with two women, one of them a minor, using a government-owned boat.
A common thread in the testimonies of those who saw Joavan is the claim that he carries high-powered guns. “Those were toys,” his father the mayor once blurted. But Joavan himself, in an ill-advised media interview, admitted carrying guns for protection, although a day or two later he did return to the line of his father: his “guns” were toys.
When the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) started sniffing on Joavan’s trail, I thought that was it. The operation was simple: get info on the man’s daily routine, then secure a warrant or conduct a checkpoint to trap him, after all he is known to pack a gun. But Provincial Police Chief Carmelo Valmoria asked CIDG to back off.
It was not the CIDG that searched Joavan’s house but the Talisay police. Talisay Police Chief Romeo Perigo was on leave and the mayor was in the house. The warrant was applied for on Aug. 20 yet. Cops were not allowed entry for several minutes. The areas targeted for the search did not include the bodega. The result: no gun was found.
I do not mean to demonize Joavan, the Talisay police or Mayor Fernandez. There are always redeeming characteristics in people. But they should be told that Talisaynons and the others monitoring Joavan’s case are not stupid or dumb. They can see through the schemes and are insulted by their display. They are fed up and a backlash is possible.
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I got yesterday an invitation for today’s launching of the “Tug-ani ang Lungsod” radio program hosted by Choy Torralba and Kits Callejan. It will be aired over dyRF Radyo Fuerza from 10-12 a.m. starting Monday next week. I would have wanted to come and ask why the program transferred from dyLA to dyRF. But I have other commitments.
I was once a reporter and later news director of dyLA, that’s why I find the transfer intriguing. I listened to “Tug-ani ang Lungsod” on dyLA from time to time and while I didn’t share some of Choy’s views, like the one on former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, I found his exchange with “Angel Kits” interesting.
I will be monitoring the program over dyRF on Monday to find out the reason for the transfer.
(khanwens@yahoo.com/ my blog: cebuano.wordpress.com)
