Abra town placed under Comelec control; police force replaced

Abra province (in red shading) in Northern Luzon (Image from Google Maps)

After placing Pilar town in Abra province under the control of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), the chair of the poll body ordered on Wednesday the relief of the police force of the town amid reports that local lawmen were against a certain political camp.

During the fourth Comelec Command Conference held with the Philippine National Police at Camp Crame, Comelec Chair Saidamen Pangarungan was asked why the Comelec decided to place Pilar under its control, despite previous pronouncements that this would not happen.

Peace and order

Pangarungan said the local police and military, during his Abra visit last month, assured him that Pilar need not be declared under Comelec control because the peace and order situation there was “OK.”

“But later on, just recently, I received confidential reports from our regional election director, Ederlino Tabilas, and also the petition of the local government unit in Pilar disclosing the apparent bias of the local police detachment in Pilar, Abra. There were also reports of threats and intimidation to some supporters of certain candidates in Pilar,” he said.

“The mayor, vice mayor and even the councilors are already hiding because they feel that they cannot be protected by the local police detachment of Pilar…,” he added.

‘Orange’ to ‘red’

On Friday last week, the Comelec raised the alert level of Pilar from “orange” to the highest “red” due to the March 29 shootout between policemen and security personnel of Vice Mayor Jaja Josefina Disono. The gunfight broke out after a van trailing Disono’s vehicle disregarded a police checkpoint.

In an earlier interview, Pilar police chief, Capt. Ronaldo Eslabra, said his men gave chase because the van almost ran over police officers when a shot rang out, hitting the windshield of a police vehicle.

Disono, however, insisted her team was attacked. She was apparently in a lead vehicle, which the van was trailing before the shootout ensued.

The chase led to Disono’s compound, where she and the security team hid, triggering a two-day standoff that was resolved after intense negotiations.

Prerogative

Pangarungan said in the case of Pilar town, he exercised for the first time his prerogative to place any area under Comelec control on his own without the concurrence of the Comelec’s election security committee.

During the election period, the Comelec may place areas with intense political rivalries under its direct control to suppress election-related violence.

Once an area has been placed under its control, the Comelec may reshuffle or relieve PNP members; order the Department of the Interior and Local Government to suppress threats of election violence; relieve any public officer or employee who commit election offenses; and direct the Department of Finance to comply with Comelec orders.

In response, PNP chief Gen. Dionardo Carlos said he already talked to Police Brig. Gen. Ronald Lee, Cordillera police director, to immediately replace the 30 personnel of the Pilar police, including Eslabra. They would be replaced by officers from the Regional Mobile Force Battalion.

“The relieved personnel will be easily replaced, and we will deploy personnel who know the area. This will not be a problem, we can immediately adjust,” Carlos said.

Legitimate encounter

Pangarungan said no other areas in Abra was put under Comelec control.

The Comelec listed 118 areas in the country — 104 towns and 14 cities — under the “red” category of election areas of concern due to the possible outbreak of poll-related violence.

Carlos defended the action of Pilar policemen, saying what happened on March 29 was a legitimate encounter, contrary to the assertion of the National Bureau of Investigation.

“With due respect to another law enforcement agency [that is] investigating, go ahead. There’s no problem with us, we will not hide [from the charges],” he told reporters on Monday. “But clearly, they (Disono’s security aides) disregarded the checkpoint. There were armed men and there were firearms in that particular incident.”

Armed men

According to Carlos, there was already intelligence information of armed men being illegally employed by politicians in Abra even before the March 29 shootout, citing Lee’s report.

“How long have they (Disono’s bodyguards) been there? They did not just appear all of a sudden and they were armed,” Carlos noted.

“This is planned on the part of utilizing this armed group. There were originally 15 personnel [who were employed as bodyguards]. Some of them already went home, while others left so they became fewer,” he said.

The NBI last week filed murder complaints in the Department of Justice against several police officials over the March 29 shootout, where a security aide of Disono died.

Charges

Among those that the NBI recommended charged with murder were Lee, Eslabra, and Abra provincial police director Col. Maly Castillo Cula, as well as election officer Rodrigo Basa II.

Last month, the Abra police filed human trafficking complaint against Disono and [her brother Pilar Mayor Roland] Somera, while their 12 security aides were slapped with separate complaints of disobedience to persons in authority.

They were also facing charges for allegedly violating the election gun ban, which is an election offense.

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