Local DILG, PNP offices not consulted
ON PANGASINAN “HIGH-RISK” TAG
LINGAYEN—Armed with resolutions from the mayors’ league and the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP), provincial officials are headed to the office of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary to call for the delisting of Pangasinan among the 15 election “high-risk”.
The SP Sangguniang Panlalawigan approved a resolution last week, sponsored by 6th District Board Member Alfonso Bince Jr., “expressing deep sense of dismay and frustration in the identification and inclusion of Pangasinan among the election high-risk spots in the 2013 election and seeking the immediate removal of the province from the said list by the Honorable DILG Secretary Mar Roxas.”
The resolution was unanimously passed following the revelation of officials of the regional and provincial offices of the Department of Interior and Local Governments and the Philippine National Police denied that their offices were consulted prior to the releasing of the list by DILG Sec. Mar Roxas.
Present at the SP session when the resolution was passed were regional and provincial officials of the DILG, Commission on Elections (Comelec), and the Philippine National Police (PNP) who were invited as resource persons.
However, Senior Superintendent Mariano Luis Verzosa Jr, officer-in-charge provincial director, still reiterated the police’s stand that the DILG used parameters for the list and that Pangasinan’s inclusion is a welcome development as it will mean the provision of additional resources during the campaign and election period next year.
Verzosa cited the five parameters given to them by the national office: the presence of private armed groups and criminal groups; with history of election-related incidents; shooting incidents victimizing elected officials; proliferation of loose firearms with expired and unrenewed licenses; and intense political rivalry.
When asked if he submitted any report to DILG based on the parameters, Verzosa admitted that the DILG did not ask any report from his office and, therefore, did not submit any.
The police chief also acknowledged that Pangasinan has the lowest crime incident rate in the region.
WHAT PARAMETERS?
Corazon Guray and Reggie Colisao, DILG Region 1 and Pangasinan director, respectively, also admitted said they were not consulted for their recommendations on the matter prior to the issuance of the list.
“I have no idea about the parameters…we were not consulted…I really did not expect it,” Guray said.
To which Bince reacted, “It is clear that the inclusion of the province of Pangasinan as an election hotspot was without consultation and input sharing with the relevant offices and agencies on the ground.”
Meanwhile, Board Member Ranjit Shahani asserted that the Comelec, not the DILG, that should determine whether there is intense political rivalry in the province.
Board Member Jeremy Agerico Rosario concluded that the decision of including Pangasinan in the list is “politically motivated”.
The previous week, about 35 mayors in Pangasinan also signed a resolution asking the DILG to review and re-assess the list as the province’s inclusion gives a “wrong impression” about the peace and order situation.
Aside from Pangasinan, the 14 other provinces included in the high-risk list are: Abra, Cagayan, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Batangas, Cavite, Basilan, Samar, Masbate, Misamis Occidental, Maguindanao, and Lanao del Norte.—Eva Visperas and Johanne R. Macob
Braganza-Lomibao: Don’t blame it on Mar
LINGAYEN—The team running against incumbent and re-electionist Gov. Amado Espino Jr. in the May 2013 polls think local officials are “barking up the wrong tree” on the issue of Pangasinan’s inclusion in the list of election “high-risk” areas.
Alaminos City Mayor Hernani Braganza, the LP gubernatorial bet in 2013, said the high-risk tag from the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) is deserved considering the crime situation in the province.
“Why blame (DILG) Secretary Mar Roxas for the chaos happening in Pangasinan? The inclusion happened not because it’s election period but because of crimes that have been happening the past years,” Braganza said during the Peace and Development Forum held here at the capital town last week.
“They should not lay the blame on somebody else when politicians are being killed by politicians themselves in the province,” he added.
Braganza’s runningmate, former Philippine National Police Chief Arturo Lomibao, said he suspects that the call for the province’s removal from the list could be “part of a sinister plot” to cheat in the coming elections.
“(We should) be thankful to Secretary Roxas. He wants to have Pangasinan secured,” Lomibao said.
Provincial officials are preparing to go to the office of Roxas to demand the delisting of Pangasinan.
Braganza cited the gun slaying early this year of former Lingayen Vice Mayor Ramon Arcinue and his wife, Zorahayda, a crime which he said could have been prevented.
He also noted the killing of a Liga ng Mga Barangay president from Agno and a barangay kagawad in Alcala who was opposing illegal quarrying in his town.—Eva Visperas
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