3 more cops back sedition case vs Tupas, supporters

Three more police officers testified that Iloilo Gov. Niel Tupas Sr. and his supporters allegedly committed sedition when they refused to abide by an order of the Office of the Ombudsman dismissing him from office on graft charges, leading to the standoff at the provincial capitol last Jan. 17.

The three policemen — PO3 Jimmy Suelan, PO2 Joery Angayen, and PO1 John Baylosis, all of the Western Visayas police — gave statements in support of the sedition charges filed by the local police against Tupas and his followers before the Iloilo City prosecutor’s office.

Superintendent Renato Gumban, Region 6 director of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, said the three law enforcers claimed that Tupas’ armed security personnel and yellow trucks barricaded the capitol to prevent police personnel from serving the order of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) evicting the governor.

The three policemen named provincial administrator Boy Mejorada, board member Niel Tupas Jr., and Barotac Viejo Mayor Boboy Tupas as the ones who spearheaded moves to prevent the people from entering or leaving the capitol grounds.

Gumban said the statements of the three policemen would further strengthen the sedition case against Tupas and his followers.

The three law enforcers also maintained that members of the Regional Mobile Group and the Civil Disturbance Management "did their job to prevent a possible chaotic situation that may lead to a stampede and an armed confrontation between the provincial guards and the police."

Gumban quoted the three as saying that the police ground forces tried to negotiate with the people to leave the capitol grounds but Tupas’ supporters prevented them, thus forcing the "trapped" residents to scale the fence or squeeze themselves through the padlocked steel gates.