Bataan mayor faces rap over opponent’s ‘stolen’ campaign material

CAUGHT ON CAM Security camera footage recorded past 6 p.m. on Monday shows supporters of Mariveles Mayor Jocelyn Castañeda open the door of a commuter van owned by a supporter of her political rival, Ace Jello Concepcion, to look for evidence of alleged vote-buying. A robbery complaint was filed against Castañeda and several others on Friday for allegedly stealing campaign materials and a laptop from the van. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

BALANGA CITY — Police in Bataan province on Friday filed a robbery complaint against reelectionist Mariveles Mayor Jocelyn Castañeda, who allegedly led a group in breaking into a vehicle before carting away election campaign materials of her opponent in the May 9 elections.

Col. Romell Velasco, Bataan police provincial director, said the complaint was lodged with the provincial prosecutor’s office after the owner of a commuter van sought the help of authorities in pressing charges against Castañeda.

The complaint was filed amid the ongoing political rift between Castañeda and Ace Jello Concepcion, her lone rival for the mayoral post.

Concepcion and his party mates in the Partido Balikatan ng Bataan—outgoing Gov. Albert “Abet” Garcia and his younger brother, Rep. Jose Enrique “Joet” Garcia III—had earlier threatened to sue Castañeda over the alleged robbery incident.

Security camera footage

At a press briefing on Tuesday, Concepcion and the Garcia brothers accused Castañeda of being involved in ransacking the commuter van owned by a supporter of Concepcion.

The governor said security camera footage showed that a member of Castañeda’s team destroyed the window of the van that was parked at Barangay Ipag in Mariveles at around 6 p.m. on Monday.

According to Albert, Castañeda was also at the scene and was even livestreaming the incident on social media.

“What she (Castañeda) did was harassment and bullying. We will never tolerate it … We’re here to protect and defend our supporters,” the governor said at the press briefing.

Albert said destroying the window of the van and stealing its contents were “violent” acts.

“They were hoping to find money in the van but there was none. We’re not giving away money because we’re just trying to register the members of our party,” he said.

Looking for evidence

Joet, who is running for governor unopposed, said that while they would not tolerate the act of Castañeda’s camp, his party members would not resort to violence that could mar the conduct of the elections in the province.

The security camera footage showed Castañeda and several of her supporters opening the van’s door through a broken window in an attempt to find evidence of supposed vote-buying, Albert said.

He said a laptop and other items were taken by Castañeda’s group from the van and these were not returned to the owner or turned over to the authorities.

Castañeda did not respond to calls on Friday but she previously claimed there was no robbery involved in the incident and that all items taken from the van were turned over to the local police, including the membership cards given by her political opponents to their supporters and campaign coordinators that came with a hospital discount benefit.

The Garcias and Concepcion denied Castañeda’s accusations, saying the distribution of the membership identification cards was a legitimate activity of their political party and that no money was involved.

Joet insisted there was nothing illegal in the distribution of the cards and that Castañeda and her supporters were trying to fabricate accusations.

“When they found nothing illegal during our meeting, they engaged in trespassing, harassment and stealing,” Joet said at the same briefing.

According to Velasco, several other supporters of Castañeda were also included in the robbery complaint, but he declined to elaborate on the details of the case. —GREG REFRACCION

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