Ermita folk defend councilor; witnesses must surface today

WITNESSES who can identify  an Ermita  barangay councilor as the one who spread false rumors about a tsunami  last Monday have until today to show up at the police station.

Otherwise,  no charges will be filed against councilor Domingo Ando of  Cebu City, said Chief Ins. Romeo Santander of City Intelligence Branch (CIB.

A charge of public disturbance was earlier filed last Friday against radio blocktimer Danilo Cogtas, after witnesses said he rode his motorcycle through the streets of barangay Pasil shouting warnings that  a tsunami was coming last Feb. 6.

Ando went to the Cebu City Police Office yesterday and questioned media reports that described him as a suspect. Ando said he worried that this would affect his job and family.

Barangay Ermita employees defended the councilor saying that Ando made efforts to calm down residents in the  afternoon of Feb. 6 when the tsunami scare sent people running in panic  in  downtown Cebu City.

Percival Rivera, who said he was was among those who  panicked, said false reports of a tsunami came from the adjacent barangay of Pasil.

“We did not hear the councilor (Ando) report about a tsunami. We got it from the  people in Pasil, who were already in panic,” Rivera said in Cebuano.

Rivera said a few hours before the scare, Ando, who is the chairman of the barangay’s peace and order,  checked the water level in Ermita’s seashore and went to some households telling residents to remain calm down despite the panic in the neighboring barangay.

“I heard him say, ‘Let’s observe the situation. Don’t panic. Just ensure the the children’s safety,’” said Rivera in Cebuano./correspondent chito aragon