Detained Moises Padilla vice mayor to challenge Peña

Garcia-Yulo says she is backed by PDP-Laban, UNegA

After being granted temporary leave from the Negros Occidental District Jail earlier this week, detained Moises Padilla Vice Mayor Ella Garcia-Yulo formally filed her certificate of candidacy and officially entered the race to challenge incumbent Moises Padilla Mayor Magdaleno Peña.

The embattled city official said she wants to “end the oppression and terrorism in Moises Padilla.”

While Peña was formally endorsed by Love Negros, Garcia-Yulo said she is running under PDPLaban and the United Negros Alliance.

The vice mayor is currently detained after being served an arrest warrant surrounding illegal possession of explosives charges.

The charges stemmed from two fragmentation grenades recovered from Garcia-Yulo’s vehicle after then-Moises Padilla municipal police chief, Police Chief Inspector Alan Reloj, conducted a search last year at a police checkpoint.

Peña brushed aside earlier speculation of a challenge from the vice mayor, saying, “She can do whatever she wants, she may run, she may crawl, she may tumble, I don’t care.” /DGB, WDJ