8 vandals arrested in Las Piñas

Eight teenagers who allegedly admitted to be supporters of Las Piñas congressional candidate Tony Tamayo were arrested after they were caught in the act defacing election campaign posters of Cynthia Aguilar-Villar, the police said.

Arrested by the Las Piñas police were Gilbert Rosales, Carlos Soriano, Joseph Santos, Jonathan Maniego, Diego Baluis, Arnel Candasa, Michael Valle, and Joel Villamor.

However, the suspects were given reprieve by Villar herself who had decided not to pursue charges against the youths.

"It would be sad if we will jail them for acts they committed from orders of people with ill-intentions. But I am calling on my political opponents to avoid engaging in these disappointing dirty tactics and instead raise the level of the campaign by the discussion of our respective platforms and program of government," Villar said in a statement.

"The opposition should stop doing dirty tricks and violating the Omnibus Election Code. It’s time for fair play. They should show their platform and what they could offer the residents of Las Piñas," she said.

It was learned that the arrested youths were seen vandalizing Villar’s posters by painting them with the words "No to Trapo," "No to Dynasty, Yes to Tamayo."

But Tamayo’s camp lamented that the Aguilar and Villar camps were "hogging" all of the poster spaces in the city.

According to Tamayo, the local authorities seemed to play favorites as some unscrupulous persons destroying and removing his posters from all over the city poster spaces were not being arrested by police. – Rainier Allan Ronda