CEBU CITY, Philippines — Are goons looming in Daanbantayan this early in the campaign period?
Provicial Board Member Sun Shimura, who is now running for mayor in Daanbantayan town, 128 kilometers north of Cebu City, said he has received reports that a group of “huge men with tattoos” were sighted in the mountain barangay of Bitoon.
“Pag-Thursday (March 28), ang kapitan nanawag na nako ug miingon nga naa nay mga paghulga didto sa bukid. Duna kunoy mga dagko nga lalaki nga naay mga patik,” Shimura told CDN Digital in an interview.
(On Thursday, the village chief called me and told me that there were threats in the mountain barangay. He said there were huge men with tattoos.)
Read more: PB Shimura, family unharmed by rock throwing incident in Daanbantayan which damaged his van
Shimura said he advised the village chiefs to report immediately to the town police any sightings of strange and suspicious individuals that loom in their areas.
Shimura also said threats of violence is materialized by the stoning of his vehicle by an unidentified person while they were traversing a provincial road in the town’s Barangay Lanao.
Read more: Shimura seeks police security for campaign period after his car was stoned
Lawyer Jerome Brillantes, Cebu Provincial Election Supervisor, said they will consider the recent developments in Daanbantayan during the Provincial Joint Security Control Center coordination meeting tomorrow, April 3, in deciding if it is necessary that the town will be placed in higher election watchlist area (EWA) Category.
The town, Brillantes said, is under the Orange Category, considering the past election-related violence reported.
Read more: LOOT, FAMILY SURVIVE ATTACK
A day before the barangay elections in May 2018, the vehicle carrying the family of incumbent Daanbantayan Mayor Vicente Loot was strafed while they were in Maya Port.
Loot’s family, including Shimura, his wife and his three children, came from a trip in Malapascua Island at the time. Shimura is Loot’s stepson.
Loot, a former police general, has constantly been called out by President Duterte for his alleged involvement in illegal drugs.
The allegation is vehemently denied by Loot’s camp. /bmjo