Lady mayor flares up at barangay captain

WHO’S afraid of Daanbantayan Mayor Maria Luisa Loot?

Town police were nowhere in sight when the mayor angrily confronted a suspended barangay captain in the village hall a few meters from the highway yesterday.

PO3 Ryan Castro said they were tasked to monitor road safety while the Liberal Party caravan was passing by.

Mayor Loot, known for her feisty ways, raised her voice, made a dirty finger sign, and faced off with village chief Bernardito Arriola Luche Jr. according to witnesses.

Barangay Bakhawan residents were surprised by the early morning commotion.

LP supporters waiting for the LP convoy to pass by said armed men who accompanied the mayor tried to scare them off by circling them on their motorbikes.

One witness told CDN he saw one escort expose a handgun at his waist.

An LP supporter taking a video of Loot’s confrontation with LP-allied was later sideswiped by a motorcycle and fell on the road, triggering another round of verbal abuse.

Luche Jr. ,who believed his suspension by the Provincial Board was already fully served, went to the barangay hall to reassume his post.

He carried a copy of the PB resolution reducing his penalty from six months suspension to three months for violating a town ordinance. By his reckoning the period ended April 27.

But the OIC, who belongs to the mayor’s camp, said he would first wait for an order from the DILG.

The videotape shows Mayor Loot and Luche facing off, with the mayor’s son PB Member Sun Shimura trying to placate the parties, as men in fatigue uniforms waited close by.

Luche’s lawyer and uncle Braulio Arriola Jr. said two policemen present didn’t respond when told about the commotion happening in the barangay hall a few meters away from the highway.

Mayor Loot came to support the OIC barangay captain Veronico Espinosa Sr. and threatened to file cases against Luche.

“Pobre ra ka. Dili ka dapat mag in-ana. Puston tika sa kaso,” Loot was quoted saying. (You are poor. You shouldn’t be acting like that. I’ll wrap you in lawsuits.)

The tense episode ended after the mayor left with her escorts./Senior Reporter Marian Codilla