LP stalwart in Cebu charged with grave coercion for allegedly intimidating rival

FOR allegedly intimidating his political rival in the 2016 elections, former Cebu Rep. Celestino “Junie” Martinez Jr., a member of the Martinez political clan on the island province, was charged by the Office of the Ombudsman with grave coercion.

Aside from the former lawmaker, the Ombudsman also filed grave coercion charges against his vice mayor, Santiago Sevilla, and his son Jose Carlo Martinez for violations of the Revised Penal Code.

Martinez Jr. is the Liberal Party chairman in the fourth district of Cebu and incumbent Bogo city mayor.

According to the information against him, Martinez, along with his vice mayor and son, committed felony for allegedly ordering the police to block the convoy of incumbent Cebu Rep. Benhur Salimbangon, who was then on board a vehicle from the Polambato Elementary School.

The incident happened in 2010. Records showed that uniformed members of the Bogo Anti-Crime Task Force, allegedly under orders of the former congressman, cordoned off the area to prevent Salimbangon from leaving Palombato Road in Bogo City on Election Day last May 2010, when Salimbangon won as Cebu representative after beating Martinez Jr.’s son Tining.

Martinez Jr. also allegedly ordered a search of the vehicle without a warrant.

Having served as Cebu fourth district congressman from 1992 to 1998, Martinez Jr. is again seeking the congressional seat in the 2016 elections.

Martinez Jr. and Salimbangon are set to face each other for the district seat in the 2016 elections.

The grave coercion case stemmed from a complaint filed before the Office of the City Prosecutor of Cebu by Salimbangon over the 2010 election day standoff.

The Ombudsman in a statement said it has affirmed the recommendation of the Cebu prosecutor to charge Martinez with grave coercion.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales in her review said the respondents’ acts to intimidate Salimbangon  were in violation of the law.

“[I]t is clear that when the complainants were prevented from moving their vehicles within the area of Palombato Road in Bogo City and respondents searched the vehicles of the complainants, there was such a display of material force which necessarily produced intimidation, and in effect, controlled the will of the complainants,” Morales said.

Under Article 286 of the Revised Penal Code, grave coercion is committed when a person who, without authority of law, prevents another by means of violence from doing an act not prohibited by law.

The Martinez clan and the Salimbangon are bitter political rivals in Cebu.

Salimbangon ran for Congress in 1998 but lost to Martinez Jr.’s wife Clavel, who served as Cebu representative from 1998 to 2007.

Salimbangon won the congressional race in 2007 by a slim margin against Martinez’s son Celestino “Tining” Martinez III.

Martinez III then filed an electoral protest before the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) against Salimbangon who won the congressional race by a slim margin of 104 votes.

Martinez III said some spoiled votes with only the surname Martinez should be accounted to him after a third candidate Edilito Martinez was declared a nuisance candidate.

In Jan. 2010, just months before the next elections, the Supreme Court reversed the HRET ruling to unseat Salimbangon and declared Martinez III as the rightful winner in the 2007 polls with a margin of 5,401 votes. This gave Martinez III only four months to serve as Cebu lawmaker.

In the 2010 elections, Salimbangon won the congressional seat over Martinez III. He is now serving his third term, but since he was unseated in 2007 he is entitled to a fourth term.

Pork barrel scam

The Martinez clan faces graft charges before the Sandiganbayan over their alleged misuse of pork barrel funds.

In 2013, the matriarch former Cebu Rep. Clavel Martinez, her son former Bogo mayor Tining and her daughter Cielo face a graft and malversation case for allegedly diverting some P11.5 million in Martinez ‘pork barrel intended for an antidrug campaign to her personal account in 2003.

READ:  Martinez takes oath, unfazed by graft case

In 2014, Clavel and Tining Martinez again face a new set of malversation and graft charges for misappropriating some P15 million in pork barrel fund.

READ:    Ex-Cebu solon slapped with criminal case over ‘pork’ misuse 

Clavel was also named as a client on the list prepared by accused pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles.

In 2015, former Bogo mayor Tining Martinez was indicted by the Ombudsman for his alleged role in the fertilizer fund scam. He was sued for the anomalous implementation of some P6 million in fertilizer funds in 2004.

READ:  Ex-Bogo, Cebu mayor to face graft over fertilizer fund scam