Published by the Bohol Chronicle
Roberto Cajes (2nd district) has called Gov. Erico Aumentado to spearhead the call for the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to place the province under its control.
Cajes yesterday reiterated his plea addressed to fellow congressmen, as a reaction to the disclosure of Gov. Aumentado that there are members of the dreaded and outlawed Kuratong Baleleng who are holed up in the second district of the province.
He said that since it was the governor who sounded first the "alarm" on the alleged presence of armed men in the province, then he should spearhead the move to place Bohol under Comelec control.
"It is to the best interest of all parties concerned if Bohol be placed under Comelec control," Cajes stressed.
The solon also bared his police security escorts, including those detailed to his wife Trinidad Mayor Judith Cajes, were recalled by Bohol Police Provincial Director SSupt. Anthony Obenza despite an allowance of 30 days under PNP and Comelec guidelines.
Despite repeated appeals and a serious threat to their lives, the PNP Regional Office-7 has not reinstated their police detail, according to Cajes.
Cajes alleged that the presence of the Mindanao-based crime group is known to SSupt. Obenza, but the provincial police director "feigns and continues to pretend not to know this fact because the patron of the said illegal armed group is Gov. Erico Aumentado."
The congressman said that while Obenza recalled police escorts detailed to him and his wife, the provincial commander did not recall the policemen assigned to the governor. He said Obenza is a relative of Aumentado's wife.
"These brazen acts of partisan politics and blatant injustice committed by SSupt. Obenza," Cajes stressed, "is too obvious, that stretching it would strain the fiber of truth and be converted into the inevitable acts of violence against myself."
"The foundation to sow fear and terror has already been laid," Cajes claims.
Cajes told fellow congressmen that the governor "is planning for the demolition of his political adversaries" and later laid the blame to the Kuratong Baleleng and other unlawful elements.
"Should anything happen to me, to Mayor Cajes, or to any member of my family, or even to Rep. Chatto, there is no one to blame but the governor," Rep. Cajes declared.
The Comelec is urged by the solon to replace Obenza with another impartial official not related to the governor.
THE OTHER WAY AROUND
Answering Cajes' accusations, Gov. Aumentado said that he is a man of peace who abhors violence.
"Rep. Cajes could be dreaming, spinning a thread of lies since police and military intelligence reports have pinpointed him as the one bringing elements of Kuratong Baleleng into the province," Aumentado countered.
The governor said that in an effort to protect the electoral process from being marred with political violence, he launched last week a crusade for clean, peaceful and orderly elections.
Aumentado said he created a coordinating committee to work for an honest and orderly polls chaired by Interior and Local Government Provincial Director Rustica Mascariñas and Provincial Election Supervisor Eliseo Labaria as co-chairpersons.
According to the governor, the PNP and military are already looking into reports that members of the Kuratong Baleleng robbery gang are being hired by a powerful official in the second district and are just waiting for the signal to strike.
"Instead of spreading wild accusations and lies, I challenge Rep. Cajes to join in our efforts for a peaceful elections," Aumentado concluded.
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