Mayor’s bodyguards maul rival’s legal aide outside poll precinct in Cavite

TRECE MARTIRES CITY — The bodyguards of this city’s mayor, Melandres de Sagun, allegedly mauled a legal aide of a mayoral candidate in this city outside a polling precinct as the election went on Monday.

A witness to the incident, who requested anonymity for security reasons, said the incident happened around 10 a.m. at the Osorio Elementary School.

The incident involved the legal aide of Gemma Lubigan, the widow of slain city vice mayor Alexander Lubigan.

Gemma confirmed the incident in an interview but declined to give the name of her legal staff due to security concerns.

According to the witness, the legal aide was inside the polling precinct to check the ongoing election, when de Sagun came in, supposedly to vote.

“They had a brief confrontation. After that, (the legal aide) went out but he was followed by the bodyguards and was mauled,” the witness said.

He said there were eight bodyguards.

He said de Sagun was not able to vote anymore as the mayor hurriedly left with his bodyguards, just as members of the provincial police arrived.

“The city police who were there were not able to react (to the scuffle),” the witness added.

De Sagun, who is on his last term, is not a candidate for any position in this election, but his father and former city mayor Jun de Sagun, is running.

Gemma took over her husband’s candidacy after Alexander was ambushed in July 2018. The police have tagged the de Saguns in the Lubigan case but the Department of Justice later dropped the charges against the mayor.

The Inquirer tried to seek de Sagun’s comment about the mauling incident, through his chief of staff Raymund Eguillos, but calls were unanswered.

City police chief Major Lyman San Juan, in a phone interview, said the victim should file a complaint at the police station.

He said they were still looking into the alleged involvement of de Sagun’s bodyguards.