It’s just a despedida party – SK chief bet
Suba SK candidate belies report about him holding 50 Suba youths hostage
An aspirant for the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) chairmanship in Barnagay Suba in Cebu City belied reports that he “hostaged” at least 50 youths on the night before the election on Monday to convince them to vote in his favor.
Jaybie Mantilla, 21, said that the trip they made to a resort in Minglanilla was a mere despedida party for he was about to fly to Manila for a week-long meet with a national basketball team. Mantilla, who just graduated from college in October 2017 with a degree in Marketing Management, was a former basketball varsity player in a Catholic-run university and was last season’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) meet.
Mantilla was reported to have gathered some youth in their barangay to make sure that they would vote for him.
At least two mothers went to the Cebu City Police Office on Sunday evening to ask for help in locating their children aged 18 and 19, who were allegedly brought by Mantilla to three resorts in Talisay, Lapu-Lapu cities and Minglanilla town.
Suba Youth volunteer Ryan Abais reported the incident and sent videos and a photo of the two mothers, but Mantilla said that the report was only meant to discredit his reputation.
He said that they only went to a public pool in Minglanilla to celebrate his being drafted in a Manila-based team.
“In fact, we did not force them to come with us. We planned it beforehand, and we were just shocked that some policemen followed us to a resort,” said Mantilla.
Roxcheld Delos Santos, an aspirant for SK councilor, said that their gathering on election eve was not a political activity.
Delos Santos, 21, said that they were traumatized with the experienced of having policemen and motorcycle-riding men follow them to the resort.
“They harassed us. We did not do anything wrong. We only wanted to have fun because Jaybie will be going to Manila for a week, and we will miss his company,” said Delos Santos.
Delos Santos also claimed that the parents who reported that their children were “abducted” by Mantilla were supporters of their political opponents.
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