Mamba denies beating up Cagayan village execs

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines – Secretary Manuel Mamba of the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office yesterday denied beating up two village officials in his hometown in Cagayan during last Monday’s elections.

Mamba said the reports linking him to the alleged incident in Tuao town could be the handiwork of his critics.

“It’s ridiculous. I can’t remember hitting a townmate last Monday. This is all lies being peddled by our political rivals,” he said.

Mamba said the camp of their political rivals wants to pull them down by fabricating issues against them.

Meanwhile, the Tuao town police said it was not aware of any incident involving Mamba or anyone from their camp last Monday.

“There was no report or incident or complaint filed by any person. We visited the polling centers during the election but we did not receive reports of such incident. The election in Tuao was peaceful,”  the town police said.

The Mambas, who belong to the administration’s Liberal Party, are among the few politicians who defected from the camp of Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, Cagayan’s acknowledged political kingpin. 

The Enriles’ allies include Gov. Alvaro Antonio, who won his third and last term against Mamba’s brother, former Tuao mayor William Mamba in the May elections.

The Mambas have pending multiple attempted murder cases filed against Antonio before the Cagayan prosecutor’s office, and a disqualification  case filed before the Commission on Elections.