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The police station in Consolacion town was left in the dark as relations between the town mayor and police force took a turn for the worse.
Mayor Avelino Gungob Sr. cut off the power supply to the police station on Tuesday afternoon, a message of his displeasure over the pullout of his two police escorts who were transferred to Ronda town. He said the reassignment was made without his knowledge.
The mayor also disconnected the telephone line on Tuesday but restored it yesterday afternoon.
Gungob said the move was not meant to paralyze municipal police office operations but to send a message to top Philippine National Police officials that the town?s chief executive should be ?respected?.
?Unsay man diay mi dire nga gipili sa katawhan sa pagka mayor, tawo-tawo sa humayan? (What do they consider the mayor, who is elected by the people ?- a mere scarecrow??) said Gungob.
He said he would not restore power supply until PO3 Sherwin Leyson and PO3 Joerahme Espinosa, who served as his bodyguards, are returned to him.
Chief Insp. Bonifacio Tecson, Consolacion police chief, said he hopes the mayor reconsiders his decision.
For months, Mayor Gungob has been at the center of controversy over a mountain road project where quarrying operations have been questioned as illegal.
Two policemen identified in the hauling operations as the mayor?s bodyguards were reassigned by the PNP provincial office, which has control over the deployment of policemen.
The mayor last month objected, demanded the relief of the entire Consalacion police force and and threatened to withdraw logistical support.
Conciliatory moves and an apology from Cebu provincial police chief Senior Supt. Jesus Gaquing staved off direction action ? until now.
Yesteday, the Consolacion police chief said he already started asking about requirements to have the PNP?s own electric connection.
Even without electric power, Tecson said police work continues. The office computers and lights in the jail cell run on electricity tapped from the adjacent Commission on Elections (Comelec) office. The rest of the lights and appliances are connected to the mayor?s office.
Police used candles, a flash light and batter-operated emergency lights to illuminate the police office yesterday.
?Niingon ang mayor nga temporary lang kuno ni kay igo ra siya nipagawas sa iyan kahiubos og kasagmuyo (He said it was temporary because he was merely releasing his frustration and anger),? said Tecson.
Tecson said the mayor also promised to purchase three emergency lights.
Mayor Gungob?s two police escorts were relieved from their posts last week after a complaint was filed against them by some Consolacion residents before the Office of the Ombudsman in the Visayas.
But the mayor said SPO3 Leyson and Espinosa were pulled out without informing him first.
He said he ordered electric power d telephone connections cut off on Tuesday afternoon to show the PNP that chief executives should be respected.
Before he did so, the mayor said he alerted the barangay tanods so they could respond to requests for assistance.
He had the phone lines restored after seeing it was urgently needed to respond to public requests for police assistance.
But Gungob said he won?t restore power connections unless his bodyguards are returned.
He said he didn?t trust anyone but those two policemen.
?Dili lalim ang pag-develop og kasaligan bodyguard. Di ordinaryong pulis akong gipili. Sabton nila akong kahimtang (It is not easy to develop and trust your bodyguards. I did not choose ordinary policemen. They should understand my situation),? he added.
Gungob said the two poilcemen were merely victims of politics since they were not involved in his order to open a road in a mountain barangay.
The mayor was accused of conducting quarrying operations in the guise of opening a road in the mountain barangay. Among the lots affected was owned by former vice mayor Teresa Alegado, Gungob's rival.
Alegado and some Consolacion residents filed a complaint against the mayor and his bodyguards for misconduct and oppression at the Office of the Ombudsman in the Visayas for depriving them of using their lots.
They alleged that Gungob and companions which included Espinosa and Leyson forcibly entered their land for the municipal government's mountain highway project.
At the Capitol, Gov. Gwen Garcia said she plans to file a complaint against the mayor before the Provincial Board committee on ethics.
This is the venue to hear cases of abuse by elected official within the jurisdiction of the province of Cebu.
?We will take that up with the legal office. If necessary, I will be the one to complain,? said Garcia.
The Department of Interior and Local Government in Central Visayas (DILG) also issued a memorandum to Gungob, reminding the mayor that it was not within his authority and power to remove police officers in his municipality.
The DILG Act of 1990 provides that the mayor would only recommend the replacement of policemen in his town.
Gungob could be held liable for grave abuse of discretion by cutting off the police station?s power supply, said Pedro Noval Jr., DILG-7 director.
Noval's memo also warned Gungog that he would recommend to DILG Secretary Ronnie Puno the revocation of his accreditation from the National Police Commission if he refused to heed his memo.
Administrative sanctions, which may include suspension from office, may also be imposed on Gungob for his defiance.
Governor Garcia said she met with Noval and Senior Supt. Gaquing on Tuesday afternoon about Gungob's actuation.
?Nangutana ko ni director Noval ug pwede ba na ang iyang gibuhat. Nag lingo lingo si director Noval (I asked director Noval if what he did was allowed. Director Noval shook his head),? said Garcia.
Gaquing said the pullout of Gungob's bodyguards had the approval of Chief Supt. Lani-O Nerez, Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7) director.
?Apparently the reason (for his anger) goes beyond the relief of his police escorts. It involves their quarry operations that has no permit,? said Garcia.
The governor who is chairperson of the Peace and Order Council in Central Visayas said she was worried of the town's peace and order.
Even as mayor, Gungob has no authority to control police operations, she said.
?Bisan sa kalapad sa iyang atoridad angayan nga dili ta mo abuso sa atong poder (No matter how wide his authority is, he shouldn't abuse it),? said Garcia.
The PRO-7 was willing to provide logistical support to Consolacion police, said Senior Supt. Louie Oppus, PRO-7 chief of Operations and Plans Division.
A mobile police station can be sent to Consolacion in a worst case scenario, he added.
Senior Supt. Marcelo Garbo, PRO-7 deputy regional director for operation, said a dialog was underway to patch up differences with the mayor.
But Garbo said they can?t give in to the demand to return his two bodyguards because it was SOP that policemen are relieved from their posts if they have pending cases so witnesses and complainants can?t be harrassed.
