By
Frank E. Dosdos, Jr.
PANAON, Misamis Occidental – The Mayor
of this conservative, peace-loving municipality virtually takes pride in vote
buying.
During the barangay elections last
October 28, Mayor Francisco Paylaga, Jr. told a crew of a local TV network,
“Tag 200 ray ilang gihatag, mas dako ang amoa (They gave only 200, ours was
bigger).”
This incident was video recorded by
the crew.
Former Mayor Miriam Paylaga, the
Mayor’s wife, ran and won as Barangay Captain of Lutao, here.
Miriam’s opponent Nerolyn Cagaanan
Galleros denied ever buying votes as she said that she wants the voluntarily
will of the people to prevail.
The Mayor’s statement confirmed a
teary-eyed housewife’s narration to this writer of an incident that happened in
the morning of the day before the election.
She said that she had to leave her
laundry when a Municipal Councilor close to the Mayor and the Municipal
Treasurer fetched her at her residence together with other neighbors and
brought to the residential compound of the Paylagas.
Inside, she was forced to accept
two P500 bills by “Tata” the Vice Mayor Daughter of Paylaga with threats that
if she will not vote for Miriam she would be (at this point “Tata” motioned
with her forefinger cutting her neck.)
Still almost crying, the housewife
showed the two P500 bills to a Video camera bearing team of reporters, later.
Reports of rampant threats,
coercion, intimidation and harassment brought here a team of reporters from the
Manggagawang Media ng Mindanao.
It was learned that goons allegedly
brought in by the Mayor from Tangub City repeatedly passed on the road in front
of Galleros in the evening before the last day of the barangay election
campaign.
Leaders also said that at around
5:15 o’clock in the morning of October 26, the last day of the campaign, the
white FORTUNER of Mayor Paylaga stopped for about 5 minutes in front of the
gate of the house of Galleros and its occupants observed through a slightly
opened window.
For fear of harm, Galleros was not
able to come out of her residence and meet her followers the whole day.
Board Member Jim delos Santos of
Misamis Occidental who visited Galleros at her residence in that afternoon was
also harassed by a convoy of vans and motorcycles led by the white FORTUNER of
Mayor Paylaga.
Attention of reporters in the
vicinity was caught by the honking of the white FORTUNER and the following cars
and motorcycles behind the vehicle of delos Santos at the junction of the
municipal road from the house of Galleros and the National Highway.
The motorcycles tried to come
abreast with delos Santos’ vehicle but missed it when he was able to move on to
the National Highway toward the adjoining town of Jimenez where he lives.
Delos Santos told reporters later
that the convoy kept on trying to overtake and block his way but were foiled by
traffic from the opposite direction.
He said that the convoy left and
turned back here when the chase was already 400 meters inside Jimenez
jurisdiction.
He also claimed that one of the
back-riders of the motorcycle trying to overtake him carried a long firearm.
The Newsmen also noted that one of
the vehicles though old and worn following the white FORTUNER had “FOR
REGISTRATION” plates.
Asked by this writer, Misamis
Occidental LTO Chief Jonas Suizo said that old motor vehicles have license
plates but “FOR REGISTRATION” plates are usually installed when these are used
on illegal activities.
On Election Day, in the presence of
a local TV crew, while roaming around on his motorcycle to observe the conduct
of the elections, Fr. Rolly G. Decena of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente
(IFI) was accosted by Mayor Paylaga and his daughter, the Vice Mayor.
The Vice Mayor said that Decena,
using the Church, received P7 thousand from “Jim” and was roaming around so
that he could collect the balance of P18 thousand of the P25 thousand contract.
Decena denied ever receiving money
as he said that he was just doing a Shepherd’s job watching his flock amidst
reports of rampant irregularities.
Mayor Paylaga admonished Newsmen to
render not only negative reports but also the positive developments here such as
the all-weather farm to market roads to the farthest barangay and the Power
Plant being built.
He said that the Power Plant is
being built up here because other Mayors in the province would not accept it.
A source revealed that the said
Power Plant was built here for geographical reasons to balance supply delivery
to the two Districts of the Misamis Occidental Electric Cooperative during peak
demand hours.
As of the this writing Board Member
delos Santos is set to bring the situation in this municipality to the general
public through a privilege speech that he will deliver in the Sangguniang
Panglalawigan.
On the other hand, Fr. Rolly Decena
together with his brother priests are readying charges against the Paylagas for
what many consider to be an affront not only to the Parish Priest but to the
Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) as an institution.
