CEBU CITY -- The highest police official in Central Visayas said Friday the police will not hesitate to file criminal charges against a candidate for mayor in the violence-ridden town of San Fernando, if they find evidence that the four armed men who traded gunshots with Army troopers on Thursday afternoon were his hired goons.
Police Regional Office 7 (Central Visayas) Director, Brig. Gen. Debold Sinas, said they will file cases against businessman Ruben Feliciano in relation to the arrest of four men caught carrying firearms when pursued by soldiers in Barangay Bugho, San Fernando, Cebu.
In a separate press conference, Feliciano denied that the men arrested by the soldiers were his hired goons, saying he did not know them.
Feliciano’s lawyer, Vince Isles, however, said two of the four men were supporters of his client, but clarified that
Feliciano has nothing to do with the incident in the mountain village of Bugho.
The businessman asked the police to dig deeper in their investigation.
Soldiers of the 47th Infantry (Katapatan) Battalion arrested Romeo Solis Jr., 39, a resident of Barangay Balud, San Fernando; Prisco Tapales, 29, of Barangay Greenhills, San Fernando; Manuel Alidon, 54, of Barangay North Poblacion, San Fernando; and Anastacio Solis, 50, of Barangay Pooc, Talisay City.
Patrolman Philip Gespo, desk officer at the San Fernando Police Station, said in a radio interview that Bugho village chief, Florenda Basala, reported to the police the presence of armed men in her area.
Soldiers stationed at the command post responded but the armed men reportedly opened fire at them, prompting them to fire back and chase the armed men, who were arrested at past 2 p.m. on Thursday.
The soldiers recovered two .357-caliber magnum rifles, two motor vehicles, and several ammunition of a high-powered firearm from the four men.
Initial reports said no one was injured in the incident. However, the house of one Teodoro Resogento, a candidate under the slate of incumbent Mayor Lakambimi Reluya, was allegedly hit by bullets during the encounter.
Feliciano is challenging Reluya for the mayoral post in Monday’s mid-term election.
He was earlier tagged as behind the ambush of the Reluyas in Talisay City last January 22 but he vehemently denied the accusation.
Lawyer Jerome Brillantes, supervisor of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) - Cebu, said in a radio interview that Task Force Cebu, headed by Col. Noel Baluyan, has deployed an additional platoon of soldiers to San Fernando, following the violence in the mountain barangay of Bugho.
The Comelec, Brillantes said, is interested to know who hired the four armed men arrested by the soldiers in Bugho last Thursday.
Police probers are coordinating with the soldiers and the Comelec in filing charges of illegal possession of firearms, illegal discharge of firearms, and violation of Comelec rules against the four armed men, Sinas said. (PNA)
