2 NE village chiefs nabbed at ABC polls

SAN ANTONIO, Nueva Ecija, Philippines - – Tension marred the elections for the presidency of the Association of Barangay Chairmen (ABC) in this town when two village chairmen resisted lawmen trying to arrest them for charges of murder, frustrated murder and grave threats on Monday.

The incident, which occured at about 8 a.m., sparked a commotion and a walkout by six other barangay leaders.

The lawmen from the San Antonio police were serving warrants for the arrest of village leaders Anacoreta Santos of Barangay San Jose and Roy Juliano of Barangay Sta. Barbara for charges of murder, frustrated murder and grave threats.

Police said the two barangay officials went into hiding for several days and resurfaced at the Sangguniang Bayan session hall where the ABC polls was being held.

When the lawmen arrived, there were 16 other village chairmen at the hall taking part in the elections.

Aside from Santos and Juliano, the other village chiefs were Sonny Garces of Sto. Cristo, Pablo Torres (Hulo), Jojo Pomeda (Panabingan), Celia Cayman (Maugat), Sally Mendoza (Buliran), Rainier Umali (Lawang Kupang), Ome Macatunao (Tikiw) and Pepe Gante (Cama Juan), all allies of Mayor Antonino Lustre, and Tuque Zapata (Poblacion), Amang Carpio (Luyos), Turne Miranda (Sta. Cruz), Ojie Dionisio (Papaya), Eddie Ostanes (San Francisco) and Arcie Cruz (San Mariano), who were all supporters of ex-mayor Arvin Salonga, a rival of Lustre.

Chief Inspector Marcelino Veneracion, town police chief, said they were merely obeying a court order.

“We just implemented the warrants of arrest issued by the court. Our actions had nothing to do with the elections,” Veneracion said.

Earlier, provincial police director Senior Superintendent Crizaldo Nieves ordered Veneracion to enforce the arrest warrants against the two barangay executives.

Santos’ arrest was ordered by Gapan City Judge Mildred Villaroman for charges of murder and frustrated murder. No bail was recommended for the murder case while P200,000 was set for the frustrated murder case.

Juliano’s arrest was ordered by San Antonio Judge Voltaire Venturina for grave threats with arecommended bail of P6,000.

Lustre said Juliano is also serving a 60-day preventive suspension for charges of abuse of authority and gross misconduct filed against him by the Sangguniang Bayan.

Vice Mayor Jose Balagtas said Juliano’s suspension took effect on Dec. 5 until Feb. 3 next year.

Lawyer Arnold Castro, counsel for the accused, allegedly said the warrants should have been served after the elections.

The stand-off lasted for three hours, prompting Nieves to dispatch operatives of the provincial public safety company (PPSC) to the scene.

The PPSC team led by Inspector Joey Cabating managed to convince the two barangay officials to go with them.

The elections went on with Garces getting elected as ABC president. – With Ric Sapnu