Police did not expect crowd of supporters to flock to Talisay city hall

Supporters of Talisay City’s ruling party, Alayon, gather outside the city hall on Friday morning, October 8, 2021, to show their support of the full slate headed by Rhea Gullas, who is vying for the mayoral post, and Richard Francis “Choy” Aznar, who is running for Vice Mayor. | via Mae Fhel Gom-os

MANDAUE CITY, Cebu — Police in Talisay City said they did not expect the crowd of supporters to flock outside the city hall on Friday morning, October 8, 2021, or on the day of the filing of certificates of candidacy (COC) of the two opposing parties.

Police Lieutenant Jonel Abello, deputy chief for operations of the Talisay City Police Station, said that they did not expect a crowd of supporters, particularly of the Alayon Party, to flock to the city hall.

“Unexpected gyud to nga crowd kay before pa man gud nahitabo ang filing sa atoang mga kandidato. Dili man gud ingon ana kadaghan ang tawo… Unexpected gyud to nga modaghan… Nakuyawan sad mi nga ingon adto diay kadaghan… ang mga supporters nga miadto,” said Abello.

(The crowd of supporters was unexpected because before the filing [of COCs] of our candidates, the crowd was not that big…It was unexpected that the crowd grew bigger…I was really worried to see the number of supporters who went there.)

To avoid for the possible COVID-19 transmission, Abello said that they made sure that all of them had worn their face masks properly.

“Ang ato na lang gyud gihimo ato, bahala’g magkadikit sila, ato rang gipaniguro nga maka face mask lang gyud ang tanan. Di pwede tanggalon sa ilang ilong ug baba ang face mask…,” he said, stressing that they instructed them to stay at the Plaza and to observe social distancing.

(What we just made sure despite them being close together, was for all of them to wear face masks. Removing the face masks from their nose and mouth was not allowed.)

Abello, however, said that while others heeded their call, there were also supporters inside the city hall compound.

“So ato na lang gipa-adjust ang mga tawo nga buwag-buwag lang ta’g gamay para dili kaayo ta makita ba kay kani laging moingon nga oh, politiko ok lang [if there’s no social distancing],” he said.

(So, we just told them not to be closer to each other so that we cannot be seen by others who would say that he is a politician and it is okay [if there is no social distancing.])

Meanwhile, Abello said that prior to the arrival of the slate and supporters of Barug Lumad Talisaynon Party, headed by incumbent Talisay City Mayor Alan Bucao, they made sure that the city’s Plaza would be cleared with Alayon supporters.

READ: Unfulfilled promise prompts Bucao to run for Talisay City mayor

The move was not just to avoid overcrowding but also to ensure that there would be no brawls between the supporters of both parties.

“Before nisulod ang grupo ni Vice Mayor, atong gihawanan ang Plaza. Para di magkaabot ang isig ka grupo ba kay wa ta kahibawo basin sobra ang ilang koan sa atong Mayor ug sa Vice mayor, mag-away na hinuon. So atong gihimo is ato na lang na gi clear usa ang area para dili samok,” said Abello.

(Before the group of vice mayor entered, we cleared the Plaza. This is so that there will be no trouble between each group because who knows they might have some misunderstanding with the mayor and vice mayor and they might end up fighting. So what we did is we cleared the area of one group to avoid trouble.)

The full slate of Alayon, the local party in Talisay City, headed by Rhea Mae Gullas, who is vying for the mayoral post, and incumbent City Councilor Richard Francis “Choy” Aznar, who is running for vice mayor, filed their COC on Friday morning, almost two hours earlier than the opposition party.

READ: Samsam’s wife files COC for Talisay City mayor with Alayon bets

Abello said the unexpected crowd of supporters would just like to show their full support to the slate, headed by the wife of incumbent Mayor Gerard Anthony “Samsam” Gullas, who accompanied the said party during their COC filing.

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