Bacolod exec accuses solon of diverting annulment issue

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — City Legal Officer Joselito Bayatan has alleged that the issue on Mayor Evelio Leonardia’s reported suspension was circulated by Rep. Anthony Rolando Golez Jr. (lone district, Bacolod) to divert the public’s attention on the latter’s marital problem.

Golez was allegedly resorting to diversionary tactics to evade the issue on the annulment case filed by his wife, Princess Soraya Jaafar-Golez, a former representative of Tawi-Tawi province, said Batayan.

Golez, also a doctor and a former deputy spokesman for former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and Leonardia are expected to clash for the Bacolod congressional seat in the 2013 elections.

“It’s their way of diverting the public from the real issue,” said Bayatan, who is currently designated officer-in-charge of the City Mayor’s Office while Leonardia is attending a seminar of the Commission on Audit in Iloilo from September 19 to 21.  

Political detractors claimed that the appointment of Bayatan as OIC at the Mayor’s Office was the result of the suspension order against Leonardia. 

Bayatan however countered that the real issue was the padlocking of the Golez couple’s conjugal home at Capitolville Subdivision in this city last Friday by his wife, upon the order of the court.

Jaafar had recently filed an annulment case against Golez, her husband of eight years, and sought a temporary protection order (TPO) from a Quezon City court to stop him from harassing her and their daughter.

Last September 12, Judge Angeline Quimpo-Sale of the Quezon City RTC-branch 106 granted Jaafar’s request by ordering Golez to cease from harassing his wife and daughter and to stay away from the couple’s house in Capitolville.

Police Officer 2 Gilbert Alunan of Police Precinct 4 said in media interview that he came with Jaafar and her lawyer Howard Calleja to enforce the TPO. Also present then were Brgy. Mandalagan Captain Elvis Agsam and sheriff Ligaya Tupaz.

Reports said Jaafar sued Golez for infidelity due to rumors that he and 1998 Bb. Pilipinas-Universe Jewel May Lobaton, the estranged wife of Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, were allegedly having a romantic relationship.

Jaafar reportedly filed a complaint against her husband for violation of Republic Act 9262 or the Violence Against Women and Children (VAWC) Act, claiming that she suffered “mental, physical, verbal and sexual abuse” because of her husband’s alleged infidelity.

Last June, Golez had confirmed that he separated from his wife since December 2010. However, he denied rumors that he was in a relationship with Lobaton, a Bacolodnon, and rumored to be running for a political position here next year.

Golez also earlier denied that he was the reason for the break-up of the Pimentel couple in May, saying, “I categorically deny having anything to do with the break-up of a relationship. It is something too personal to them and that all we can do is respect their privacy especially in these difficult times.” (FREEMAN)