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CEBU CITY, Philippines - As tensions in Tudela town, Camotes Island, slowly escalates, provincial police director Senior Superintendent Carmelo Valmoria said the police will not interfere in the political dispute between Rogelio Bacquerfo and Demetrio Granada.
Reports reached the provincial police office that only Granada supporters were allowed access into the building.
But Valmoria said the police's main consideration is to maintain peace and order in the town and keep supporters of both camps from clashing.
The doors of the legislative building in Tudela town have been ordered closed by Granada since Monday.
According to Bacquerfo, the office of the municipal treasurer was blocked by pieces of wood that were nailed to prevent its removal.
The assessor?s office was also ordered closed by Granada.
Valmoria said he received reports that at least 50 Granada supporters went to the municipal hall yesterday prepared to resist any attempt to unseat their candidate.
?We request for sobriety among the supporters. We must make sure that the protagonists from both camps will not clash,? Valmoria said.
Valmoria said a police augmentation team, which he said was ?sufficient in number? had been in Tudela town for at least three months already.
?If not for the presence of the PNP (Philippine National Police) there, they would have clashed a long time ago,? he said in Cebuano.
According to the police official, he was waiting for the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) if they would require security assistance in implementing an order that directs Granada to already vacate the municipal hall.
Bacquerfo said that until then, Valmoria has advised him to hold office as Tudela's rightful mayor somewhere else.
An option was to temporarily hold office at his nearby rest house.
?Colonel Valmoria has been telling me that we would avoid using force. If possible, I should just hold office at my resthouse so there would be no tension. Anyways, I am the recognized mayor based on the order,? he said.
Bacquerfo said his department heads were holding office in other places of their convenience to ensure that there is continuity in their service.
Valmoria said he did not want to dwell into the legality of the dispute between Granada and Bacquerfo because that issue was already taken cared of by the DILG.
He only wanted to ensure that peace and order would prevail in Tudela while they await whatever action the DILG would want to take.
