10 hurt in bid to oust Tuguegarao mayor

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya—At least 10 people were hurt on Thursday when officials of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the police served the dismissal order against Mayor Jefferson Soriano at  Tuguegarao City Hall, where hundreds of the mayor’s supporters had been holding vigil since Monday.

Soriano’s supporters blocked DILG officials and policemen from entering the City Hall to deliver the order removing the mayor and the city administrator, Ronald Brillantes, from office.

Renato Iringan, DILG director for Cagayan Valley, and Senior Supt. Ronaldo Olay, Cagayan police director, arrived at City Hall at 8:10 a.m., accompanied by policemen.

“The crowd was somewhat unruly and barricaded the entrance of City Hall, forcing the DILG [representatives] to just post the order on one of the walls, to the dismay of the mayor’s supporters. This was when all the pushing and shoving started, hurting people, including our own employees,” said a DILG official, who agreed to give details about the incident but did not want to be identified.

The Ombudsman had ordered the city officials’ dismissal for grave misconduct. The Ombudsman said the officials allowed the operation of a flea market on three city streets they closed last year, without approval from the city council.

Since Monday, around 300 city residents had been holding vigil at the City Hall grounds, vowing to protect Soriano and Brillantes from what they called “excessively harsh” sanctions.

The Inquirer tried to get confirmations of the incident from Iringan and Olay but they did not respond to calls and text messages.

Soriano also did not answer calls and text messages. Brillantes said he was unaware of what had taken place at City Hall.

But Soriano’s wife, Eleanor, confirmed the commotion at City Hall and accused the policemen securing the DILG officials of committing what she called “police brutality.”

“Despite our efforts to peacefully resolve the matter, we were raided with apparent police brutality and excessive show of force. Our supporters, including women, were physically injured,” she said in a statement.

“We have legal remedies afforded by law in this regard. The order of the Ombudsman has not yet reached its finality, until the Supreme Court rules on it,” she said. Melvin Gascon, Inquirer Northern Luzon