Arrest warrant for Bedol out

The Philippine National Police (PNP) is ready to enforce the arrest warrant issued by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) against former provincial election supervisor Lintang Bedol for indirect contempt in connection with the disappearance of ballot boxes in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Deputy Director General Reynaldo Varilla said he has directed ARMM police director Chief Superintendent Joel Goltiao to implement the warrant of arrest.

Goltiao, however, said that they have yet to see the copy of the warrant issued by the Comelec.

“There are feedback that a copy had been forwarded to us, but we haven’t received any yet,” Goltiao told The STAR.

“As law enforcers, we are ready to implement the lawful order,” said Varilla during the Talakayan sa Isyu ng Pulis (TSIP), a weekly forum sponsored by the PNP.

James Jimenez, Comelec spokesman, expressed confidence that Bedol will not hide and will remain at the ARMM.

But Goltiao, who is on official business in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi, said he has been receiving persistent reports from his subordinate intelligence operatives that Bedol is nowhere to be found in Central Mindanao, including his hometown in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.

“Bedol’s lawyer is very visible, and he is not in hiding,” said Jimenez of the former Comelec official.

“There are talks circulating that he has gone abroad. We’re still checking and validating all of these reports. As soon as we get hold of the warrant for the arrest of Attorney Bedol, we will serve it without hesitation,” Goltiao said.

Bedol, an ethnic Maguindanaon, hogged the headlines after the May 14 elections for alleged poll irregularities in his area of jurisdiction.

Comelec Law department chief Atty. Alioden Dalaig has ordered the PNP to deliver Bedol to the Metro Manila District Jail in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City.

The Comelec also issued an Order of Commitment addressed to Atty. Edgar Bolcio, superintendent of the Camp Bagong Diwa jail.

The Comelec convicted Bedol of indirect contempt last Aug. 7 and meted him a six-month imprisonment and a fine of P1,000.

Bedol had filed a motion for reconsideration with the Comelec but it was denied.

Dalaig said that while Bedol had filed a certiorari with the Supreme Court, the high tribunal has not issued a temporary restraining order, “rendering the resolution of his conviction final and executory in accordance with Section 13, Rule 18 of the Comelec Rules of Procedures.”

Bedol was cited in indirect contempt for failing to attend a series of canvassing and hearing sessions of the Comelec regarding the elections in Maguindanao and for his failure to explain his absence.

The Comelec was also irked when he challenged the poll body to sue him for his absence and for illegally assuming the custody of the poll documents from Maguindanao, which he subsequently lost. – With reports from Delon Porcalla, Sheila Crisostomo