Ayuman: Osmeña to manipulate polls
Apas Barangay Captain Ramil Ayuman has accused Mayor Tomas Osmeña of manipulating the upcoming barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections by allegedly appointing his allies to the Board of Tellers.
He threatened to file charges against the mayor and even said that Osmeña may be colluding with the Commission on Elections.
Osmeña welcomed the threat and denied the accusation, saying the same is but a diversionary tactic by the opposition group, the Barug Team Rama Partido ng Demokratikong Pilipino-Laban, to which Ayuman belongs.
He said the group is diverting the public’s attention because voters are already aware that opposition members are “obstructionists”.
Osmeña heads the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK).
On a Facebook post on Monday, Ayuman said he received information that Osmeña is using his position to appoint the members of the electoral board. He urged other barangay captains in the opposition to confirm the information.
"Sa paningkamot aning yabag nga mayor nga mapildi ug manikas sila sa umaabot nga barangay elections. Susiha ninyo ang listahan sa board of canvassers ...gikan sa chairman...poll clerk ug third member...Kay kaning si Tombully (Osmeña) gipasud ang mga empleyado sa city hall isip poll clerk ug third member," Ayuman said.
He clarified with The FREEMAN last night that he is actually referring to the Board of Tellers, which is under the electoral board.
At City Hall, Osmeña told reporters, "No, I have not picked anything, either canvassers or watchers. Who am I to pick the watchers?"
"He will file a case over anything and everything. They even make up cases... Because these people cannot accomplish anything by themselves," he said of Ayuman and the opposition.
In a separate interview, Councilor Jose Daluz III said he is among those who noticed that some City Hall workers and barangay leaders allied with BOPK are in the electoral board.
He said he immediately called the attention of Comelec Regional Director Veronico Petalcorin and asked the latter to remove them from the board.
"Ang ako lang, among gi-raise nganong ari man sa City Hall mangita og electoral board members. Just to remove the perception of politics, dili nalang pasilbihon ang employees," Daluz said.
Petalcorin reportedly told him that they are allowing government employees to serve in the elections because there is a lack of public school teachers who want to serve in the May 14 polls.
Petalcorin, for his part, said he already asked all election officers to review the list of electoral board members to check whether there are indeed City Hall workers there.
“Gipa-review pa nato sa atoang election officers kay naa man gyu'y hierarchy. Kinahanglan kung pwede mangita sila og private schools… Sunod, ato sa national government employees,” he said.
Daluz urged public school teachers to serve in the elections.
“Akong suggestion sa maestro, pag-serve mo uy. Ngano nanglikay man mo? This is once in every three years,” he said.
On April 8, 2016, former president Benigno Aquino III approved Republic Act 10756 or An Act Rendering Election Service Non-Compulsory for Public School Teachers, Authorizing the Appointment of other Qualified Citizens, Providing for Compensation and other Benefits.”
Section 12 of the law says that public school teachers can be replaced by private school teachers and national government employees who are holding regular or permanent positions, excluding uniformed personnel.
Over P3.1 million worth of suspected shabu and marijuana stalks were confiscated by authorities in separate anti-illegal drug operations conducted Monday in Cebu City.
Operatives from Cebu City Police Office and other law enforcement agencies uprooted and burned 6,950 fully-grown and juvenile marijuana stalks worth around P2.8 million from a 1,500-square meter plantation site in the upland barangay of Tagbao.
“We keep on monitoring those mountain areas, especially secluded ones,” said Police Superintendent Tim Alam, chief of CCPOCity Mobile Force Company.
He said two marijuana plantation sites in Tagbao village were placed under surveillance for months.
Once they get the identities of the lot owners, he said, appropriate charges will be filed against them.
In a separate operation, around P340,000 worth of drugs were seized from two suspects—Darvin Lausa, 28, and Radny Maalam, 45—in a buy-bust operation in Barangay Quiot Pardo.
Operatives from CCPO’s City Intelligence Branch and City Drug Enforcement Unit, and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas (PDEA)-7 recovered four medium and eight small sachets of shabu weighing 20.20 grams worth P238,360 from Lausa, a high-value target.
Lausa was placed under surveillance for a month prior to his arrest Monday evening.
Senior Inspector John Escober, CCPO-CIB deputy chief, said Lausa can dispose of at least 20 grams of shabu a week.
Operatives also seized one medium and five small packs of shabu worth P61,360 from Maalam, a resident of the same barangay, yesterday dawn.
“Kit-an to namo sa ngit-ngit. Actually duha to sila, nakadagan lang ang isa. Padulong man to sila (Maalam) magtinunolay. Pag-askyon og dagan, among gigukod then natagak to ang item na among narecover sa iyaha,” Escober said.
Maalam and Lausa are currently detained at CCPO pending the filing of charges against them for violating Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
Meanwhile, a 36-yearold man was finally locked behind bars after evading arrest in a buy-bust operation a month ago.
Jouen “Jowen” Bontilao, a resident of Sitio Cantisang, Barangay Paril, Cebu City, is now facing four cases before the court.
Prosecutor II Maria Lourdes Bragat-Quilitorio held Bontilao for trial after finding probable cause for violations of Sections 5 (selling of dangerous drugs) and 11 (possession of dangerous drugs), Article II of Republic Act 9165 or Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act; illegal possession of firearms; and a Commission on Election (COMELEC) gun ban.
Quilitorio recommended no bail for Bontilao’s illegal possession of drugs, P150,000-bail for illegal possession of firearms, and P36,000-bail for violation of Comelec gun ban.
In an inquest proceeding, Bontilao opted not to undergo further investigation before the Office of the Cebu City Prosecutor.
Instead, he manifested to face the charges in court.
In his affidavit, Police Officer 2 Jeff Bartiana said they were tipped off about Bontilao’s whereabouts.
He said the suspect was staying in a hotel in Barangay Ermita, Cebu City and continued his illegal drug trade.
Bontilao was arrested on April 25.
Bartiana said Bontilao tried to escape for the second time after sensing their presence but failed.
Recovered from the suspect were two large packs of shabu and an unidentified firearm.