Comelec officer considers filing raps vs. Wagas, et al

CEBU, Philippines - Former Compostela town assistant election officer Nida Cabanes is contemplating going to court for remarks made by alleged supporters of Mayor Ritchie Wagas which claim she had received P1 million in bribes from a local candidate.

Cabanes, who served Comelec Compostela for almost 30 years, admitted that she is contemplating filing charges against Wagas and some of his supporters for maligning her integrity and spreading lies that she had received a P1 million from the camp of Vice Mayor Joel Quino.

Wagas, a first-term mayor, was defeated by Vice Mayor Joel Quino by 2,115 votes.   

Wagas and some of his supporters have distributed flyers and posters all over Compostela including barangay Cot-cot, Lilo-an town showing Cabanes’ face in front of the municipal hall.

Accompanying her picture are the words “Ang dagway sa usa ka tikasan? “Ako ang niangkon nga nidawat ko og P1 million.”

“We will be filing a legal move against them. Kinsa pa man diay laing nagpasi-ugda niana kung dili siya ra man (Mayor Wagas). Wala man gyud mi laing gidudahan. Nag-consolidate pa mi og mga ebidensya,” Cabanes told The FREEMAN.

`Cabanes said the accusations were aimed “below the belt.”

“They have been hitting me. My family is already getting affected,” Cabanes said, adding that the flyers alarmed not only her family’s friends but also their relatives.

Cabanes’ daughter, Shenzee, said that her mother “is about to retire and my dad is a chief engineer in one of the largest shipping companies here and abroad. So tell me now...why would my mom destroy her integrity that she had built up for almost 30 years in exchange for a lousy P1 million bribe?”

“These malingering supporters have inflicted emotional damages on our family. We have gotten used to the usual issues pinned down on my mother every election period but this has been the most devastating act we have encountered because it involves my mom’s face in flyers and accusations that are not even true,” Shenzee said.

With the escalating problem in Compostela, provincial election supervisor Lionel Marco Castillano has detailed Cabanes to the Lilo-an Comelec office.  (FREEMAN NEWS)