Gwen vs Gaye race in 3rd district places Pinamungahan town in PNP Cebu watch list

The western town of Pinamungajan, Cebu was added to the watch list of the police and the Commission on Elections because of “intense political rivalry” in the fight for the 3rd district congressional seat between Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia and Pinamungahan Mayor Geraldine Yapha of the Liberal Party.

This brings to 18 the total number of Election Watch List Areas (EWAS) in Cebu with less than 20 days to go before the mid-term polls.

The assessment was made by Senior Supt Patrocinio Comendador Jr., provincial police director, during a security meeting with Comelec Regional Director Temie Adlawan attended by PNP and armed forces officials.

It’s Gwen’s first stab at a congressional post, currently held by her brother Pablo John, who is running for governor.

Switching places would keep three Garcias in Cebu’s top positions if they all win, with the 87-year-old patriarch Pablo Garcia seeking reelection as congressman of the 2nd district.

Yapha, a medical doctor on her second term as mayor, belongs to a political clan as well.

Her mother Estrella, a former Provincial Board member, hopes to take her place as Pinamungahan mayor with grand daughter, Vice Mayor Maria Honeylette Yapha-Lingad seeking reelection.

Gaye’s father Dr. Antonio Yapha, a former 3rd district congressman, is running for vice mayor of Toledo city in tandem with another senior politician former senator John Osmeña who is 78.

In a previous interview, Mayor Yapha said she knew it would be an uphill battle against the governor, who’s had nine years in the Capitol to consolidate her control in Cebu towns and component cities which she often visited.

The Garcias’ One Cebu party dominates the west coast district, which includes a shipbuilding complex and national park in Balamban town and commercial mining in Toledo City.

The Liberal Party counts on only three out of seven mayors in the 3rd district to deliver the votes for Yapha – Tuburan Mayor Demetrio “Aljon” Diamante, Barili Mayor Teresito Mariñas and Pinamungahan.

This places pressure on Toledo City, the lone city of the district with almost a third of total votes, as an arena. All four localities are in the EWAS list of the Comelec and PNP.

Senior Supt. Patrocinio Comendador J., provincial police director, reported the addition to the EWAS in yesterday’s conference conference with members of Regional Joint Security Control Center (RJSCC) attended by officials from PNP and AFP-Central Comma.

In a separate interview, Comendador said no violent incident was reported in Pinamungahan town but that the area had “intense political rivalray compared to other areas.”

“Actually, classifying EWAS is to manage our resources well and not for any particular purpose,” said the police chief.

Other official reasons for a locality to be placed on the watch list are the presence of armed threats, private armies and proliferation of loose firearms.

“If the Comelec and the PNP have sufficient basis for their decision, then the Liberal Party respects that,” said LP Cebu gubernatorial candidate Hilario “Junjun” Davide III, in a statement.

His rival, Rep. Pablo John Garcia of One Cebu said there has been no political violence in Pinamungahan during the campaign period.

“When he (Comendador) talks about ‘intense rivalry’, is he talking in jest, the way the police come up with crowd estimates? Why doesn’t he just say that LP also stands for Laban Pulis?”

“The only thing worth watching in Pinamungajan is that the LP mayoralty candidate is losing,” said Garcia.

Based on the Comelec and PNP scan of Cebu province, there are pockets that need close monitoring in all districts except for the 1st district under Rep. Eduardo Gullas, lone district of Lapu-Lapu City and Cebu City – so far.

One to six localities are identified as EWAS in each district.

As part of the PNP security plan, the focus is on police visibility, transport security, polling place security, pro-action security, concern teams, canvassing security, and reserve personnel.

Comendador has fielded more policemen in north Cebu than the south in anticipation of peace and order disturbances.

NO COMELEC CONTROL

Despite the expanded list, no area in Central Visayas has been declared under Comelec control.

“We only have EWAS and no recommendation to put any area under Comelec control in the region,” said Regional Director Temie Lambino of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Only a serious armed threat would merit declaring a town or city under Comelec control, he said.

Lambino said the Comelec, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the PNP are ready to secure the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines to be used on May 13.

“We are just waiting for the date and of the official ballot and if the election will be conducted now, I would say we could perform the election successfully,” Lambino said.

In Bohol, there were reports of New People’s Army activity but this was not confirmed by intelligence monitoring by the AFP and police, said Chief Supt. Marcelo Garbo, PRO-7 director.

Bohol election supervisor Lionel Marco Castillano said he was open to having the province listed under an areas of concert but not Comelec control

“The AFP and PNP can cope wit the situation. We also have special forces assigned in the area,” he said./Correspondents Chito Aragon and Carmel Matus