REGIONAL Police Office 6 Director, Isagani Cuevas said Thursday the Philippine National Police (PNP) will investigate the alleged intimidation by some groups in the province.
Cuevas said the reported intimidation may refer to the previous claims and that it may not be happening now, however, they will still investigate the matter.
The alleged intimidation was hurled Thursday by gubernatorial candidate Rafael “Lito” Coscolluela during the signing of the peace covenant at the San Sebastian Cathedral.
“Well you know friendly warning. You know we are already disadvantaged enough as it is. For our people, to be subjected to intimidation, smacks of unfair elections. So I’m hoping I could appeal to him personally because I cannot say that he knows about it but, we would have wanted to tell him that there are people associated with his group who are going around intimidating our own people. So I’m hoping we can stop that and just allow everybody to accord to their will, Coscolluela said.
He added the intimidation is all over. “We knew that there are many personnel who are being employed as bodyguards which is right for some candidates who feel they need bodyguards. For some candidates who feel they need body guards, that’s well and good as long as they remain body guards. But when they start going around and intimidate other people, that’s a different matter. So it’s just an appeal, we’re not prepared to accuse anyone directly but we’re getting feedback from the field and we’d like to appeal that let’s just play fair. The other side has enough resources, so we’d like to see a healthy exchange of ideas, competition for both without resorting to intimidation or money or any other unfair means”, he further uttered.
Coscolluela is running against Sagay City Mayor Alfredo “Freddie” Maranon for the gubernatorial position in the province.
For his reaction, Maranon said, “It was a surprise to hear from media reports the claims of former SRA Administrator Rafael Coscolluela that his followers are “being subjected to intimidation” allegedly by people associated with me. It is unfair for Coscolluela to be throwing those accusations and I hope he proves it.”
“I am just saddened that Lito can throw those statements soon after signing the peace covenant where we are being asked to discuss legitimate political issues only,” he added.
Maranon also said he is a phone call away if Coscolluela needed to report something, “but unfortunately he opted to use other venue to air his allegations.”
Cuevas on the other hand said if the politicians want personal security, they should not resort to recruiting some groups.
He said they gave them two police officers plus two private detective agents for the mayors and above and for the candidates for vice mayors and below, they are allowed to hire at least two private detective agents.
“If their purpose is for personal security, they should hire the private detective agents,” he said.
Cuevas said members of the Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Bongcayao Brigade (RPA-ABB) and other rebel groups that have peace agreement with the government are not authorized to provide security to the politicians.
“They can go with the politicians but they should not carry firearms. The prohibition would fall on armed groups”, he said.
The RPA-ABB signed a peace agreement with the government and the Republic of the Philippines. They are not prohibited to support candidates provided they should not use their firearms, said Cuevas. (Teresa Ellera-Dulla)