8 P’sinan b’gay heads get death threats

SAN FABIAN, Pangasinan — At least eight barangay heads here are now fearing for their lives due to death threats contained in text messages sent to them.

The threatening messages prompted Roland Villegas, president of the Liga ng mga Barangay, to convene an emergency meeting.

Villegas, however, believes that the eight barangay officials were merely "getting paranoid."

"Sabi nila meron daw silang natatanggap na death threats at may nagmo-monitor daw sa kanila (They said they have been receiving death threats and that they were being monitored)," Villegas said.

He said those who received the death threats might have done something wrong but would not come out in the open and discuss the matter with him.

Villegas said four of the eight barangay chiefs are from Bolasi, Sobol, Lipit Tomeeng and Cayanga.

Although the barangay heads concerned would not admit it openly, Villegas said he was being suspected of being the source of the threatening text messages.

"What would be my intention to do that? I’m not running for mayor and the elections will be held next year yet," he said in Tagalog.

The meeting was attended by 25 of this town’s 33 barangay heads, 20 of whom are aligned with Villegas.

When Villegas ran against Romulo Magliba for the barangay league’s presidency, he won by only one vote.

During their meeting, Villegas told his colleagues, "Let’s talk heart to heart. If you fear for your lives, you can always call me and I will even be the one who will go to your place."

He said the problem with some of the village chiefs is "doble-kara sila, takot sa sariling anino (they are double-faced, afraid of their own shadow)."

Villegas expressed suspicions that the threatening text messages are another ploy of his opponents so that authorities would raid his house, similar to what happened when he ran — but lost — in the Liga ng mga Barangay elections at the provincial level.

Chief Inspector Rodolfo Lomibao, San Fabian police chief, confirmed to The STAR that there are, indeed, barangay heads who have received death threats.

Based on what was shown to Lomibao, the phone number of the text sender did not appear on the cellular phones of the barangay heads concerned.

He said some of them even called him up and asked for police assistance, claiming that unidentified armed men were roaming around their communities or were tailing them.

However, policemen found the reports to be "false alarms."