It's always until the deadline

Will it be City Mayor Evelio Leonardia running for reelection? And will former police chief Vicente Ponteras slide down to vice mayor? These are just among the many speculations about the local political scene.

One thing sure, though, Babes Alvarez had already announced his withdrawal from the congressional race. Apparently due to a circulatory ailment, the final diagnosis of which depends on another round of examinations in Manila. But, for the time being, his withdrawal had been announced.

Lucky Congressman Monico Puentevella. But the solon still will have to wait for the decision of his erstwhile opponent, former Rep. John Orola on whether the latter will run again. Orola was trounced by Newks in the last election.

What's the latest scuttlebutt in Bacolod? And Negros Occidental?

Well, for one, despite attempts to magnify the possibility of Rep. Ignacio Arroyo (5th district) trying to unseat Negros Occidental Governor Joseph Marañon, there is virtually no basis for such speculation. They are both supporters of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

And, her image badly battered by the Iloilo provincial capitol scandal, President GMA likely will loath to risk further erosion of her voters' support by taking on Marañon who has not done anything against her administration.

But the Iloilo fiasco could have its adverse impact on Negros Occidental. Definitely, a lot of Negrenses got riled with the police handling of the effort to eject Governor Niel Tupas from his capitol seat Wednesday last week.

The fallout from that incident certainly must have given several GMA leaders and supporters in this province second thoughts about her governance. The fact that DILG Secretary Ronaldo Puno reportedly had bucked the President's order to grant Tupas 72 hours to vacate his position with both Bohol Governor Enrico Aumentado and Antique Governor Sally Zaldivar-Perez volunteering to see Tupas at the capitol, must have riled GMA loyalists.

Worse, until now the President seems to have become tongue-tied insofar as the Iloilo incident is concerned.

The most common interpretation - she is either cowed by Puno and his allies, or she had given her consent to the way he had handled the move to oust Tupas from the Iloilo capitol.

The problem with that dispersal operation was that television footages showed glaringly how the police used their long firearms to intimidate the unarmed civilians at the capitol. Some of them were even brusquely manhandled under the command of Senior Supt. Pedro Merced.

This reportedly happened because the police had been informed of the presence in the capitol of members of the NPA guerilla force plus several inmates of the provincial jail.

Despite their ballyhooed presence, police did not find a single armed group confronting them. Instead, they produced only a baby Armalite, reportedly recovered from a police outpost, with 19 bullets. And this was supposed to have been used to repel the force of 200 policemen.

***

Negros Occidental provincial police Supt. Rosendo Franco should be able to come up with a more credible explanation on the relief of EB Magalona Chief Santiago Rapiz.

Franco told media that he will make the investigation of Rapiz transparent and promised to regularly update media on the result of the investigation.

The only problem with that is that Franco had not furnished mediaman with the complaints of the "concerned citizens" which led to the replacement of Rapiz by Insp. Ronnie Grajo.

And I thought all the time that one does not get penalized for something before the actual results of the investigation has been completed.

Even assuming that the two-year stay of a police chief is not absolute, still there must be real justification for a police officer's relief. But until now I still have to hear from Franco the reason for Rapiz's relief. That's just like the Iloilo provincial capitol dispersal operation. Even in the face of blatant display of unwarranted force, police kept coming up with rationalizations on why they committed the transgressions against the public.

Oh, well, Franco should be able to do better in explaining his strange action on the case of Rapiz. Just for the record, I don't know Rapiz.*

back to top