Role of pols seen in clash in Calbayog

TACLOBAN CITY—Certain politicians are coddling armed groups in Calbayog City in Samar province, according to its police chief.

Supt. Salvador Tagle, who assumed his post over two months ago, made the disclosure after armed men led by a certain Managaysay clashed with their rivals led by one “Doinog” in the remote village of Langoyon, 10 kilometers away from the Calbayog city proper, on July 15.

Calbayog has often been tagged as an “area of concern” during elections due to the presence of armed groups and intense political rivalry.

Two persons were wounded in the latest fighting, Tagle said. They were identified as Arnel Doinog and Marlou Regulacion, believed to be members of the Doinog group but who told police they were simply farmers.

Police investigation into the clash is stalled as the victims and some witnesses refused to talk, the officer said.

‘Oplan Katok’

Tagle said the warring groups were being protected by local politicians, but he declined to give names. They move around in the hinterlands of Calbayog, he said.

Among the measures he has instituted to check the movements of the armed groups are the setting up of checkpoints, crackdown on loose firearms and “Oplan: Katok,” a campaign in which policemen go to houses of certain individuals believed to be in possession of firearms.

Calbayog has only 87 policemen, not enough to secure the city’s close to 200,000 people. Joey Gabieta, Inquirer Visayas