5 Pampanga towns won’t be put under Comelec control

City Of San Fernando — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has junked petitions to put at least five Pampanga towns under its control but ordered that more policemen be deployed in these areas to ensure peace and order in the May 14 elections.

Provincial Comelec supervisor Artemio Lambino declined to identify the towns, but sources from his office said they are Minalin, Sasmuan, Apalit, Candaba and San Luis.

The five towns, along with Mexico, have been tagged as "areas of concern." Lambino said there was no need yet to put them under Comelec control because the peace and order situation in these areas is still not serious.

"It’s difficult to assess at this point how peaceful elections in Pampanga will be. Political tension suddenly builds up," said assistant provincial Comelec supervisor Arthur Dalino.

Lambino, meanwhile, expressed "serious concern" over intermittent browouts in seven towns which the Pampanga Electric Cooperative II (Pelco II) services.

"This is something I’d like to look into," he said after residents of Mabalacat complained that power outages have become more frequent at night.

Pelco II also services the towns of Guagua, Lubao, Porac, Sasmuan, Floridablanca and Bacolor.

Lambino said he will confer with Pelco II officials to get assurance that there will be no power disruptions on election day and the rest of next week.

Unopposed re-electionist Rep. Juan Pablo Bondoc of the fourth district urged police to keep a tight watch on Minalin.

Bondoc alleged that men of Mayor Santiago Yabut mauled at least two residents during a political rally in Barangays Sto. Domingo and Sta. Rita a few days ago.

Bondoc, who belongs to the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), had wanted to put San Luis, Masantol and Minalin under Comelec control.

He claimed that a politically influential clan in Masantol has been maintaining a private army, while in San Luis, he cited the slay attempt on Mayor Jay Sagum, his party mate, by rebels hired as assassins last April 27. Three rebels died in a clash with lawmen who thwarted the assassination bid.

In Candaba, Lakas-NUCD mayoral bet Jerry Pelayo defended the deployment of 40 policemen from the Provincial Mobile Group. He insisted that he faces threats from the Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan.

Apalit Mayor Tirso Lacanilao (Lakas-NUCD) also asked for more lawmen for his town after men allegedly identified with his rival, NPC bet Oscar Tetangco, were pinpointed as the ones who smashed his car’s windshield.

Lacanilao also alleged that Tetangco’s men recently barged into the house of one of his supporters and carted away several handheld radios.