Police raid Baliuag town hall

BALIUAG, Bulacan — Tension reigned here at dawn yesterday when policemen forced their way into the town hall to ask the court-proclaimed mayor, Romeo Estrella, to vacate the post.

Superintendent Danilo Evangelista, municipal police chief, said they got a directive from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to re-install Mayor Rolando Salvador.

Estrella’s supporters initially kept vigil at the town hall’s second floor. But after three hours of negotiations, Evangelista said he was able to convince the group to leave.

Yesterday afternoon, Senior Superintendent Edgardo Acuña, Bulacan police director, escorted Salvador back to the municipio.

Lawyer Zoilo Perlas, provincial Comelec officer, attested to Salvador’s re-assumption of the mayorship.

Acuña said the town’s operations have normalized with the peaceful exit of Estrella.

But Estrella said the fight is not yet over. "Certainly, we will not give up that easily," he said. — James Mananghaya