POLICE arrested Tuesday evening, December 19, the vice mayor of Moises Padilla town in Negros Occidental and her husband after firearms, explosive devices and suspected methamphetamine hydrochloride were allegedly recovered inside the couple's vehicle at a checkpoint.
Chief Inspector Allan Reloj, chief of the checkpoint installed at the crossing of Magallon in Moses Padilla town, claimed that Vice Mayor Ella Garcia-Yulo had a firearm on her lap, prompting them to further check the vehicle. Garcia-Yulo is on the drugs watchlist of the local police.
Police said they recovered three 45-caliber pistols and ammunition, two grenades and a big sachet of suspected illegal drugs.
The vice mayor, on the other hand, said she and her husband will file charges against the police for harassment.
She said the police had forcibly dragged them and boarded their vehicle after she introduced herself as the town’s vice mayor.
She said she tried but failed to take videos of the “harassment” after the police took her mobile phone.
“He (Reloj) wanted us to disembark, but we insisted that the checkpoint should be (in) plain view,” Garcia-Yulo said.
“We asked him what he was charging us (with), he didn’t say a word, but insisted we should get out of the vehicle because it was a checkpoint," she added.
For his part, Negros Occidental Police office director Senior Superintendent Rodolfo Castil Jr. said he will have the incident investigated and will ensure the truth will come out. (SunStar Philippines)