Talisay "Bantay Dagat" absorbs Joavan "victim"

MANILA, Philippines - Talisay City Mayor Socrates Fernandez has found an opening in the Bantay Dagat team for a man who Joavan allegedly had once pointed a gun at.

Raymund Paran, who accused Joavan of pointing a gun at him last December in Vista Grande subdivision, will work at the office of the Fishermen Sea and Ecological Care (FISECA) in barangay Cansojong.

Medy Montebon, a staff at the city's Human Resource Management office, however, said there is no Raymund Paran in the roster, but they have "Raymund P. Caminade." Paran's middle name is Caminade.

Reporters who were covering seized corals in barangay Cansojong spotted Paran.

Robert Sabequil of Bombo Radyo, who first saw him, said when Paran noticed him, he even smiled at him, but when he looked back he was already gone.

Other reporters who covered Paran at the height of the December shooting incident also recognized him.

An employee at the city hall, who refused to be named, also said Paran frequented the office of the mayor late April.

In early March, Paran was last seen by homeowners at Vista Grande where he worked as a clubhouse attendant.

Before his disappearance in early March, days after he charged Joavan of robbery for allegedly taking soft drinks from the Vista Grande clubhouse without paying, he left a note telling the clubhouse owner that he wanted to hide from Joavan.

He alleged in that note that Joavan gave him P4,000.

Montebon said "Raymund Caminade's" job-order contract started last May 2.

There is no date yet as to when the contract will end as it is up to the mayor to continue or rescind it, she said.

Paran is now one of the hundreds of job order employees under the quota of the mayor.

This is not the first time however that Fernandez had hired someone who his son had allegedly offended.

In 2007, Fernandez hired Rusty Barinque, son of the late PUJ driver Panfilo Barinque who was shot dead allegedly by Joavan in August 2006. Fernandez also gave a teaching job to Barinque's daughter.

The mayor also provided a housing unit at the Gawad Kalinga to the widow of Barinque.  - THE FREEMAN