MARY ANN IN COMELEC CHECKPOINT BREACH
GARMA-OSMEÑA FEUD ESCALATES
A COMMISSION on Elections (Comelec) checkpoint was breached on Sunday, April 28.
Cebu City Councilor Mary Ann de los Santos, running mate of reelectionist Mayor Tomas Osmeña in next month’s polls, was in the convoy that breached the checkpoint.
Osmeña intervened, and Cebu City Police Office Director Royina Garma called it harassment, escalating the feud between the two officials, who are now threatening to file cases against each other.
Tension had already been brewing between the two when a video showing armed men mauling three people in Barangay Carreta, one of whom they eventually arrested for drugs, went viral last week. The mayor, in a Facebook post, identified the attackers as members of the Talamban Police Station, which didn’t sit well with Garma.
Last Sunday night, police had a confrontation with the mayor and Councilor de los Santos after a member of de los Santos’ convoy was accosted for not stopping after he was flagged down at a checkpoint in Barangay Kasambagan past 7 p.m., and Osmeña arrived to question the actions of the police.
Before the incident, police had allowed Osmeña’s vehicle, which was headed for the Kasambagan Barangay Hall, to pass since they recognized it as belonging to the mayor. However, they pulled over the next vehicle.
Police Major Chuck Barandog, chief of the City Mobile Force, said they asked the driver to lower his window. However, the passengers suddenly alighted and allowed themselves to be checked. After that, they were allowed to go.
A few minutes later, several vehicles left the barangay hall and passed the checkpoint. Among them was a motorcycle that did not stop when police flagged it.
“Wala man sad ko kahibalo nga iya tong bodyguard motorcycle convoy. Akong gipara. Di man gyud mohunong. Mao to, ako siyang gihawiran hangtod nga natumba sa karsada (We didn’t know the driver of the motorcycle was part of her bodyguard convoy. So I pulled the driver over, but the driver would not stop. So I held him until he fell on the street),” said Barandog.
When she found out what happened, de los Santos called Osmeña. The mayor arrived at the scene, saying, “Who’s in command here? Answer the question!”
The mayor questioned the purpose and manner of his convoy being flagged down, threatening to charge the police for not following proper checkpoint procedure.
Police ended up apprehending five vehicles and one motorcycle, three of which were impounded.
Garma said the whole encounter was documented and the drivers in the convoy were issued a temporary operator’s permit (TOP).
“We issued TOP and disobedience to the drivers. Ang pakiusap namin, huwag palakihin pag may (Don’t make it an issue if you’re asked to stop at a) checkpoint. Stop. Submit yourself to the checkpoint,” she said.
The CCPO director said she will file charges against Osmeña and de los Santos for harassing police officers manning the checkpoint and because the checkpoint was breached.
“Harassment yung ginagawa nila. Kung ako pa yun, pinusasan ko na at kinulong ko na sila kasi Comelec checkpoint yan (What they did was harassment. If it were up to me, I would have handcuffed them and put them in jail because it was a Comelec checkpoint),” Garma said.
De los Santos, though, denied the police official’s allegations.
“We were totally harassed. They put a checkpoint right after the gym. It’s not even the main road. I cannot understand what that checkpoint was for. For all our supporters?” she told Superbalita Cebu.
De los Santos said Garma wouldn’t have known what happened because she wasn’t there.
“I was there and if you are showing now the record of the video you have on the phone, did they give you the full? It was edited,” de los Santos added.
The councilor admitted that her vehicle was not stopped at the checkpoint, but she was surprised to find out that one of her backup riders, who was on a motorcycle, was stopped by police farther down the road.
“When I saw the checkpoint, I did not run fast, of course, because there was a checkpoint. I was not totally stopped until I moved farther. When I reached a certain part, which was not lighted anymore, there was a commotion. One of my men was apprehended by the group of policemen headed by Colonel Barandog,” de los Santos said during the candidates’ forum at the University of San Carlos main campus on Monday, April 29.
She said she overheard her backup driver radioing for help, so she got out of her vehicle.
A member of her security tried to help his companion who had been made to lie on the ground, but one of the police officers allegedly aimed a gun at him.
“After that, I interceded. I went in front of Colonel Barandog with his short arm. I told him, what is your problem? Og akoy imong tuyo, ako (Take me if you’re after me), but not at the expense of these innocent people. Unsa may sala namo (What did we do wrong)?” she added.
In a Facebook post, Osmeña accused police at the checkpoint of forcing passengers at the convoy to alight from their vehicles.
Under Comelec checkpoint guidelines, authorities are not allowed to ask or order passengers to get out of their vehicles. They can only check inside from the outside. That is why the driver has to turn the light on inside.
The mayor also accused the police of looking through things inside the vehicles even though they had no search warrants.
Osmeña said they’re preparing evidence so they can file a case against the police.
“Lawyers collating all the videos and pictures of what happened last night (Sunday). Expect charges to be filed tomorrow (Tuesday, April 30),” he said.