Guv's SOPA takes on 'defining moment'
Unlike his usual State of the Province Address (Sopa) where Governor Niel Tupas highlights the achievements of his administration, yesterday's Sopa focused on the assault of the Capitol by hundreds of policemen last Wednesday, January 17, 2007.
Tupas, in his strongly worded speech read inside the jampacked Sangguniang Panlalawigan session hall, denounced the forceful attempt to remove him from office.
"What transpired at the Iloilo Capitol was a shameless assault on our democratic institutions. The Capitol is the seat of power for the Province of Iloilo, and decency required our policemen to treat those occupying it with respect and courtesy," said the governor who was ordered dismissed by the Ombudsman for grave misconduct.
Tupas, however, got hold of a temporary restraining order (TRO) from the Court of Appeals Cebu City in the neck of time preventing the police to push through with their plan to get him out of the governor's office.
Antique Governor Sally Perez along with the representatives of the other governors of Western Visayas attended Tupas's Sopa.
Earlier, Western Visayas governors expressed support to Tupas condemning the forceful manner in which his dismissal was implemented.
Hundreds of his supporters and provincial government employees also gathered inside the session hall to listen to the governor's Sopa while others stayed at the Capitol's ground floor where a public address system aired the governor's speech.
Tupas recounted the ordeal he had suffered at the time the 300 policemen including elements from the Regional Mobile Group (RMG) took control of the Capitol.
Tupas who was inside his office during the time said he did not know that his sons, Board Member Junjun Tupas, Mayor Raul Tupas and Dr. Darling Tupas, and daughter Nielette "Tweety" Tupas Balleza were manhandled by the police.
He said he only learned of what happened later after he saw it on television.
"When the soldiers were manhandling my sons and daughter, somebody shut down the transistor radio inside my office as I took a call from a friend. This act prevented me from knowing what was happening to my children. Had I heard about it, nothing could have stopped me from going out and protecting them. But I was unaware of the police brutality against my children and supporters that was taking place, and I stayed put in my office. That saved me from certain arrest, and events would have turned out differently," recounted Tupas.
"As a father, seeing my daughter, Tweety, and sons, Junjun, Mayor Boboy and Doctor Darling Tupas, being manhandled by policemen certainly frightened me. I was even more shocked and horrified at seeing M-16 rifles being aimed at them," Tupas said.
Tupas slighted that politics was behind the attempt to persecute him.
"There is no doubt in my mind that my decision to side with the stand of the Liberal Party under the leadership of Senator Franklin M. Drilon during the Hyatt 10 incident was a main reason for this political terrorism. There is no doubt in mind that my refusal to toe the administration line on issues such as the people’s initiative, constitutional assembly and the operation of the Small Town Lottery in Iloilo were factors that led to this political persecution," the governor said.
Thus, Tupas called on Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez Sr. to resign along with Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Ronaldo Puno and Police Regional Office (PRO) 6 regional director Chief Supt. Wilfredo Dulay.
Tupas named the three as the primary persons responsible for the Capitol attack.
"What was the rush all about? Why didn’t the policemen led by Chief Superintendent Wilfredo Dulay want to wait one hour more? Was there a life-threatening situation? What was the justification for the disregard for the safety of the civilians inside?" Tupas said.
To note, the Commission on Human Rights vowed to investigate the alleged human rights violations committed by the PNP personnel during the Capitol siege.