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Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Mayor's son, 5 pals 'beat up workers'
CEBU CITY – Weeks after he threatened to blow up a gas station and collected money from a firewood trader, the adopted son of Talisay City Mayor Socrates Fernandez figured again in another controversy.
This time, Joavan Fernandez allegedly led in attacking two vulcanizing shop laborers outside his residence at Plainville Subdivision, Barangay Tabunok early Monday dawn.
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Had the police not arrived on time, Winston, 18, and Osbert, 21, both surnamed Abellana, believed they would have been dead by now.
But while the four-man police team, led by PO3 Edwin Alvarado, quickly arrested the five suspects, Joavan remained at large at press time.
Joavan reportedly hid in his house upon the arrival of the responding policemen and tanods.
Talisay City Police Station (TCPS) Chief Romeo Perigo said he formed a police team to look for Joavan after he learned of the incident.
But reports said Joavan showed up at the Talisay City Hall and visited his detained companions at 1 p.m. Monday and was not arrested.
Nabbed were Benedict Gabasa, 26; Mark Perez, 24; and three 17-year-old teenagers, all of Plainville Subdivision, Talisay City.
“Wa mi kahibawo ana (We don’t know anything about that),” was Gabasa’s flat denial when sought for comment at his cell.
Missing tire
Joavan was reportedly fuming mad after the spare tire of his father’s Toyota Revo, a government service vehicle, got lost a day after the mayor had it fixed at the vulcanizing shop last August 5.
He accused Winston and Osbert of selling the tire.
But vulcanizing shop owner Mercedita Abellana, in a dyRF interview, said the tire was not sold by the two workers but was taken by robbers, who barged into the shop, last August 6.
Mayor Fernandez, in the same interview, initially blamed Mercedita for the missing tire, saying the shop could be accountable to the city with the tire being a government-owned item.
Mercedita, who feared for their safety, decided to temporarily close the shop even as they vowed to pursue the charges against Joavan and his friends in court.
Mayor Fernandez assured the Abellanas of their safety, as Joavan could have been merely carried away by his emotions over the missing tire.
He also pledged to return to Mercedita the Sanyo 21-inch color TV worth P12,000 and a DVD player worth P2,000 that were reportedly taken away by Joavan from the vulcanizing shop last Friday night.
Case
The TCPS failed to file the case for two counts of illegal detention, grave threats and serious physical injuries against Joavan and his five companions Monday.
City Fiscal Marshall Rubia said it was already past 5 p.m. or beyond office hours when the assigned investigator arrived at City Prosecutor’s Office.
Rubia said he is set to conduct an inquest against the suspects at 9 a.m. Tuesday.
The victims were picked up at a roadside vulcanizing shop, owned by their aunt Mercedita, past 1 a.m. The shop is located near the flyover and a private bank in Tabunok.
First to fall was Winston. He was reportedly forcibly dragged at gunpoint into Joavan’s sports utility vehicle, a red Isuzu Trooper Bighorn and brought to Plainville.
Ten minutes later, Joavan and his male companions came back and took Osbert aboard a skyblue multicab.
Luckily, Oscar, Osbert’s 58-year-old father, managed to flee after a brief confrontation with Joavan. He said Joavan also cocked and trained his firearm at him.
Hogtied
Apparently to prevent them from escaping or fighting back, Joavan and five other suspects allegedly hogtied Winston with a rope and handcuffed Osbert, the victims said.
Joavan and his men then reportedly took turns in punching and kicking them in the face, head, neck, and back. The two survived the ordeal that lasted more than an hour.
Not contented, Joavan reportedly struck them in the head with a firearm, which they described as a “high-powered machine pistol,” and repeatedly threatened to summarily execute them.
“Grabe gyud ang among kahimtang, nagtuo ko di na gyud mi maluwas, ipa-salvage mi,” said Winston, who wore a bandage on his forehead and a busted lip.
Winston said he knew of the mayor’s adopted son Joavan because he overheard the latter’s wife uttering Joavan’s name and cautioning him to bring them somewhere else.
It was Oscar who sought police’s help, leading to the rescue of his son and Winston from their abductors.
To stop Joavan from beating him, Winston admitted they sold the tire in Barangay Basak-Pardo
“But the truth is, the tire was among the items taken when robbers ransacked the shop last Aug. 6, said Winston’s father, Jimmy, 45, of Langtad, City of Naga.
Assurance
Cebu Provincial Police Office Director Carmelo Valmoria assured that they will file a case against anybody as long as there is sufficient ground to do so.
“As I have been saying, nobody is above the law. Whoever is the perpetrator, as long as we have sufficient pieces of evidence, we will file charges,” he told reporters.
Valmoria said he met with Talisay City Police Chief Romeo Perigo Thursday to discuss another matter but they touched on Joavan’s cases in Talisay City.
He declined to say what transpired in the meeting. (GC/MEA/Sun.Star Cebu)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Baguio. (August 12, 2008 issue)
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