Comendador denies police harassing Guardo''s camp

City Police director, Sr. Supt. Patrocinio Comendador, yesterday denied allegations that his policemen have been used as "goons" to harass opposition candidates, insisting that the Tuesday incident was a legitimate police operation.

"It was a legitimate operation about an armed person alarm. We did it similar with responding to an ordinary armed person alarm because it is our duty...I would like to emphasize that the PNP is an apolitical organization," Comendador said.

Vice Mayor Michael Rama, for his part, defended the police while suspecting that the camp of congressional candidate Jonathan Guardo had fabricated the alarm to get media attention and publicity.

Guardo''s party, through its legal counsels, had threatened to file at the Comelec a complaint against the City Police for the incident, which it alleged as a form of harassment against its supporter Lemuel Sulapas, a nephew of Guardo.

Sulapas claimed that, while driving his white Starex Van along V.Rama Avenue in barangay Calamba, a pick-up vehicle blocked his way then armed men and some policemen pointed their guns at him demanding him to alight from the vehicle to be searched.

The search was not accomplished however because Sulapas, who was with two companions, refused to have his vehicle searched without a search warrant. He also called his lawyers.

The policemen, of the Criminal Intelligence Investigation Branch, only managed to have a look at the van but found nothing illegal from it. They saw campaign materials only.

Despite the negative result of the "search", Rama commended the police for their quick response, which was merely a response to an alarm for verification.

Rama, who also sits as chairman of the Police Coordinating and Advisory Council, believed that it could be possible that it was Guardo''s camp that reported the alarm and made the response an issue to get public attention.

Inspector Wilbert Parilla, Chief Insp. Arnel Banzon and Sr. Insp. George Ylanan, who were with the responding policemen, have earlier denied that the operation was meant to harass political opposition.

The Oplan Universe was declared after the initial response of available police cars in the area proved negative. Comendador said the use of special units of the police was necessary considering his order not to treat lightly any armed person alarm.

"I don''t want my men to get hurt, during my watch, because if I can''t protect my own men then how can I protect the people of Cebu," Comendador added.

Comendador said that since the election period started, the CCPO have received persistent reports of armed men coming to the city from other places.

He said the information included that these men might be here either for election-related purposes or for planned robbery. These caused him to order his men to tighten up security in the city without waiting for confirmation first. - Edwin Ian Melecio and Wenna A. Berondo/RAE