“Inday” Salud, Mabatid’s mother, holds a rosary as she waits outside the sala of MTCC branch 1.
ON MABATID’S REQUEST FOR 20 ESCORTS
Can Mabolo Barangay Captain Prisca Niña Mabatid defy another protocol by having 20 police security details? Yes, if the president says so.
Chief Superintendent Debold Sinas, Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7) director, said that although their policy only allows two security details per government official, he will be willing to assign 20 police officers to Mabatid if the order comes from the Office of the President.
“Should the Malacañang order it, I guess so. Yes, if there is an order we will provide them with 20 escorts,” Sinas said.
“But for now, I can’t give the 20 personnel. Our policy only allows us to give two. Where will we look for the 20 policemen?” Sinas added.
Sinas also said that the deployment of security details to government officials depends on the results of their threat assessment by the police intelligence branch.
Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) also confirmed that they had received a verbal order from the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV) to assign security escorts to Mabatid.
But Supt. Artemio Ricabo, CCPO Director for Administration, said he can only assign two policemen for now, as per police protocol.
Mabatid claimed on Monday that the Office of the President has offered her 20 police escorts following the threats that she reportedly received shortly after she announced her bid for the presidency of the Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) – Cebu City.
Mabatid also claimed that it was the President who encouraged her to run for ABC prexy.
Tomas isn’t biting
But Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña who supports Kasambagan Barangay Captain Franklyn Ong for the ABC believes that Mabatid is only making up her claims that she is supported by the president.
“No, I don’t believe she’s endorsed [by the president]. Why would the president endorse a barangay captain? Tell her to bring the president here. I think she’s fooling everybody,” Osmeña told reporters on Tuesday.
Mabatid also said she initially did not want the security detail offers but is now seriously considering it after allegedly receiving death threats for her and her children through text messages.
Quo warranto trial
Meanwhile, the trial for the quo warranto petition filed against Mabatid by her opponent Daniel Francis Arguedo will run until Thursday, July 26.
On Tuesday, Mabatid’s camp brought two neighbors to the court to prove that Mabatid is a resident of Mabolo.
Arguedo filed the petition claiming that Mabatid is not an actual resident of Mabolo, but of a subdivision in Barangay Talamban.
The witnesses, a former barangay hall caretaker and a vendor, both attested that Mabatid stays in her mother’s house near the creek in Mabolo as they’ve previously sworn in their joint affidavit.
But for Arguedo’s camp, several inconsistencies were presented and that the witnesses were not able to manifest that they actually executed their affidavit.
“Presenting a witness that cannot even recognize their affidavit is a fatal decision. With what transpired this morning, I believe that the court will decide in our favor,” said Amando Virgil Ligutan, Arguedo’s counsel.
But Mabatid’s counsel, lawyer Delon Urot, said they are still very confident that the court will side on the testimonies of the witnesses.
Urot also said that they are still discussing whether or not they will let Mabatid take the witness stand on Thursday. /with Futch Anthony V. Inso, Morexette Marie B. Erram and Fe Marie Dumaboc