Espino, Celeste face disqualification suits
A CONGRESSIONAL candidate of the Liberal Party has asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to disqualify re-electionist Gov. Amado Espino, Jr. and Rep. Jesus Celeste for allegedly detaining his supporters and preventing them from distributing his campaign materials.
Atty. Bodie Pulido, a candidate for the 1st District, said in his complaint that Espino and Celeste used force and intimidation to harass his supporters during an incident last April 2.
Pulido narrated that his supporters Melvin Ancheta and Aljon Laderas were distributing leaflets and other campaign materials in Barangay Napunit, Infanta when several unidentified men on board a tricycle approached them and forcibly confiscated their belongings, including the LP’s campaign paraphernalia.
The unidentified men then forced Ancheta and Laderas to get in the tricycle and then brought and detained at the Municipal Hall of Infanta allegedly upon the orders of Espino and Celeste.
At the municipal hall, Espino and Celeste confronted the two campaign workers and repeatedly asked them to divulge who ordered them to distribute the campaign materials and who are paying them to do so.
When Ancheta and Laderas did not respond, Celeste is quoted to have said, “Dapat sa inyo, binibigyan ng leksyon!”
Espino and Celeste then allegedly ordered to have Ancheta and Laderas photographed.
When a team of responding policemen arrived at the scene, Espino and Celeste allegedly ordered the lawmen to arrest Ancheta and Laderas and the two were detained at the police headquarters.
They were released after hours in detention.
Aggrieved by what they called illegal, inhumane and criminal acts committed by Espino and Celeste against them, Ancheta and Laderas sought Pulido’s assistance in filing a complaint for Unlawful Arrest/Slight Illegal Detention against the two officials.
“Based on the statements of Ancheta and Ladera, it is clear that Gov. Espino and Rep. Celeste violated pertinent provisions of the Omnibus Election Code which may cause their disqualification,” Pulido said.
He cited Section 83 of the Omnibus Election Code which state: “It shall be unlawful for any person during the campaign period to remove, destroy, obliterate, or in any manner deface or tamper with, or prevent the distribution of lawful election propaganda.”
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