Used as ‘bodyguards’ of opponent: Garcia wants cops probed

CEBU, Philippines- Suspended Dumanjug, Cebu Mayor Nelson Garcia has asked Cebu Provincial Police Office Director Noel Gillamac to investigate policemen who allegedly served as personal bodyguards of Acting Mayor Efren Guntrano Gica.

In an August 20 letter to Gillamac, Garcia alleged that the CPPO SWAT members and the town policemen were used by Gica and the acting mayor’s brother Councilor Erwin Gica to harass Garcia’s allied barangay officials and supporters.

Garcia identified the policemen as Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) members and from the Dumanjug Police Station.

“The said abovementioned three police officers actively and openly engaged in harassing some barangays officials of Dumanjug, Cebu and some of my political supporters in order to pursue and advance the political interests of Acting Mayor Efren Guntrano Z. Gica,” read part of Garcia’s letter.

“Clearly, the acts committed by the said PNP members are blatant violations of the rules and regulations regarding political neutrality of all the members of the PNP,” he added.

Copies of the letter were furnished to the Police Regional Office-7, National Police Commission and the Office of the Ombudsman.

Sought for his comment, Gica denied the allegations, saying he only utilized police and SWAT personnel once—when they conducted a roving patrol during a feast in Barangay Pawa in Dumanjug due to a recent shootout which ensued during a buy-bust operation in the area.

He said he also received threats to his life, which prompted him to request for CPPO personnel, but that the policemen were never used to harass barangay officials, as alleged by Garcia.

“Kung tinuod nga nang-harass pa ko, naa untay blotter. Nasakitan lang siguro na siya nga halos wa nay motuo niya diri sa Dumanjug….  Natural ra na sa mga tawong kulang sa pansin. Wa lang na siyay laing mabuhat, magsige’g pangdaot,” Gica said in a telephone interview with The FREEMAN.

He and Garcia have been hurling accusations at each other, with some of their complaints still pending before the Provincial Board.

Garcia is currently serving a six-month suspension for grave abuse of authority and misconduct that Gica filed on September 16, 2013.  (FREEMAN)