Arms build-up in Estancia?
Armed security men of Estancia Mayor Rene Cordero and bodyguards of retired Police Chief Superintendent Restituto "Boy" Mosqueda could be disarmed despite earlier applications and corresponding grant of gun ban exemptions.
With the two fighting for the town mayorship, alarm has now been sounded off to the police and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) as concerns ran high on the peace and order situation here.
Latest incident that rocked this northern Iloilo town was a shooting incident over the weekend involving the retired police official and his armed security and a supporter of the incumbent mayor.
Radio interviews heard Comelec Regional Director Rene Magbutay and Provincial Director Elizabeth Doronila similarly saying orders are up for a full investigation on the matter. Doronila for her part added that at any given time, permits if any, issued to men involved in the Estancia row will be revoked and canceled.
Further still, even both candidates may be disqualified if charges are pursued by authorities on actions deemed as clear violation committed this campaign period.
This, as media criticisms were hurled against both camps of Cordero and Mosqueda 'for not sparing even the Church.
The Police Regional Office (PRO) 6 hierarchy in an attempt to secure the town has now deployed 20 elite soldiers of the Regional Mobile Group to the 609th Provincial Mobile Group based in Sara, Iloilo with specific orders to augment the police force of Estancia Police Office.
Meantime, verification is underway on intelligence reports gathered early this month of a supposed arms build-up in Estancia. It was not immediately clear which camp stands to benefit from this purported clandestine operation yet sources told The News Today (TNT) that the tip from a civilian informant is taken "very seriously."
The weapons are reportedly transported at least twice a week using the Estancia port as alternative entry yet mostly transport is made by land.
In light of the misdevelopments in Estancia, Board Member Angelo Briones, chair of the Committee on Public Order and Security appealed on the duo and their supporters for sobriety.
Such as Briones called for an immediate "peace talk" that the two should make "as soon as possible."
"I am personally making this appeal particularly since Director Doronila has issued the warning on them. I call that both start to mend fences and smoke the peace pipe. After all, their common goal is to serve the public and it is sad that in the process they are destroying each other," Briones said when reached by TNT for reaction.