Tension rises in Bacoor hours before polls as police arrest 5 NBI agents

CAMP VICENTE LIM—Five agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Cavite were held by members of the Cavite police and the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) Regional Public Safety Battalion (RPSB), amid rising tension in Bacoor City in Cavite hours before the elections on Monday.

Bacoor City police chief Supt. Ronaldo Mendoza, in a phone interview, confirmed reports that the agents were taken to the provincial police headquarters in Imus City, but refused to call it an arrest.

“They were just invited for questioning after we received reports that tension rose near the Revillas’ mansion,” Mendoza said.

Amelia Manzo, a campaign staff of Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla, said their camp requested NBI’s assistance after fully armed RPSB personnel arrived and “surrounded” the Senator’s mansion and tried to set up a Commission on Elections (Comelec) checkpoint near the village hall in Barangay (village) Panapaan VII around 11 p.m.

The village was where Revilla’s son Jolo, who is running for vice governor of Cavite, was the village captain.

“But when we checked with the Comelec officials, we learned that the police were not authorized (to set up the checkpoint),” said Manzo.

According to Mendoza, tension rose when the NBI agents tried to stop the RPSB officers from setting up the checkpoint, prompting the Cavite provincial police headquarters to deploy troops to “invite the NBI agents and verify if they were authorized (to operate in Cavite).”

He said five NBI agents remained under police’s custody.

Sources in Bacoor City told the Inquirer that 25 other NBI agents sought shelter in the Revilla residence. Six vehicles with uniformed men, carrying high-powered firearms and uzis were seen outside the Revillas’ compound, said the sources.