What could be under a convoluted hairstyle?
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Sat, 18 Jan 2020 17:02:52 +0000
A press statement forwarded to my mail by a friend instantly brings back memories of the Corona impeachment in 2012. Those were the days when members of the Philippine Congress were divided into the principled lawmakers on the one hand and the ersatz on the other. In the Senate, for instance, only three voted in favor of Chief Justice Renato Corona — Senators Miriam Defensor Santiago, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Ceferino “Joker” Arroyo Jr. — which prompted me into labeling them the “Innocent 3” and the rest, the “Guilty 20.”
Of course, previous to the Senate judgment was the railroading of the impeachment complaints, which the House of Representatives did, and what struck me as among the railroad engineers was a youngish congressman who stood out among his peers due to his shaggy dog hairstyle. I thought I had watched him in an interview in which he bragged that his unkempt hair was exactly how it looked after being rubbed dry with a towel after a shower.
Normally I would not bother about finding out who a lawmaker is in an interview I just happen to catch on TV, but because of his hair, I took effort to find out who that legislator was, and that’s how I got to know him to be Rep. Tobias “Toby” Tiangco of Navotas.
I thought then, what kind of mind could be under such a convoluted hairstyle?
It turned out, Toby downsized to mayor of Navotas after his term ended in Congress — which he continues to be so now. It is in that capacity that Tiangco is an object of a complaint by one of his barangay chairmen in Navotas, Wilfredo Mariano of Barangay Tangos.
In keeping with the tradition of this column in which otherwise unheralded voices are given a chance to be heard, I am giving way to a statement issued by Mariano to a select group of media people.
In the statement, Mariano claims he is a victim of a political war being waged by Mayor Tiangco against his political foes in Navotas City. He presented to the media men a copy of a letter he said he had sent to President Rodrigo Duterte in a last-minute attempt to dodge a possible jail time arising from a non-bailable case filed against him by Mayor Tiangco’s henchmen. Copies of the letter had been sent to Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año and Department of Justice (DoJ) Secretary Medardo Guevarra.
In the letter to the President, Mariano enumerated in details the circumstances of the kidnapping case filed against him by, as he alleged, Tiangco’s supporter, thus:
Around early evening on May 13, 2019, a group of men came to his office at the barangay hall in Tangos presenting someone, whom the group claimed was engaging in vote-buying.
The suspected vote-buyer, who was then wearing a t-shirt bearing the name of then mayoral candidate Tiangco, was later identified as Rommel Sopera, a driver of Navotas City Hall. Sopera denied he was engaged in vote-buying and was simply delivering food to Tiangco’s poll watchers.
With no complainant against him, Sopera then decided to file a complaint against those who brought him to the barangay hall, claiming he was brought there against his will, and that his cell phone and some of his money were taken by the group.
For his part, Mariano assisted Sopera in filing his complaint and had two of his barangay tanod accompany him to get his motorcycle that he left near the voting precinct.
But after two months, Marinao said he received a subpoena stating he was being charged with kidnapping, illegal detention, robbery and violation of Omnibus Election Code, along with two others, former congressional candidate Rico de Guzman, lawyer of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan and who ran against Tiangco in 2013, and Rolando Morato, driver of the van which brought Sopera to the barangay hall.
Early this month, Mariano received a resolution signed by city prosecutor Rennet Evangelista recommending the filing of kidnapping charges against him and Morato.
It is interesting to note that though de Guzman was originally among the defendants in the case filed at the city prosecutor office, his name was eventually dropped from the charges as it was never established he was even near the vicinity where the incident happened.
This should buttress the claim of Mariano that the charges filed against him were trumped up.
So, Mariano sought the help of Tiangco. Two days after being provided by him with the papers of the case, Tiangco asked him for the names of the group who brought Sopera to him the first time around. To the names he provided, Mariano came under pressure to include those of former Navotas vice mayor Lutgardo Cruz and his son Raymond “RC” Cruz, who ran for vice mayor of Navotas in the 2019 elections against Tiangco’s partymate.
To make the long story short, the Cruzes are political enemies of Tiangco whom Mariano has come under pressure to include as among those who brought Sopera to him the first time around. It was made clear to Mariano that if he implicated the Cruzes, he would be off the hook in the kidnapping case he suddenly found himself enmeshed in.
“Mabigat itong kaso mo. Mahirap ito. Ituro mo na lang ‘yung dalawa pang kasama mo para maayos natin ‘to,” Mariano said as words coming from Tiangco. “Ituro mo na ‘yung dalawang kasama mo at bibigyan pa kita ng abogado para siya na ang gumawa ng affidavit mo at maayos na natin ang kaso mo.”
“Whether the Cruzes are involved here, I have absolutely no idea,” declared Mariano in the media conference. “If this is about his political tiff with the Cruzes, it is not my concern.
But please spare my family and me. This is no laughing matter. I am facing a non-bailable case and tomorrow (Friday), we heard that the case would be filed before the court. If the court upholds that, and from what we’ve heard, a judge is already waiting for this case, then I am facing arrest,” said Mariano in Filipino.
“Tao din lang po ako, marunong matakot. Natatakot ako para sa sarili ko, para sa aking pamilya. Nadadamay po ako sa laban sa pulitika ni Meyor Toby sa isang pamilya. Kung ngayon demanda para kasong non-bailable lang ang kinakaharap ko, ano pa kaya ang susunod (I am only human who knows how to be afraid. I am afraid for myself, I am afraid for my family. I am being enmeshed in the political fight of Mayor Toby with one family. If today I am only faced with a non-bailable case, how much worse could be forthcoming)?”
“And that is why I am calling on the President, the DILG and the DoJ to please investigate the incident. I have done nothing wrong except maybe to fail Mayor Toby Tiangco in his personal battle against his political foes,” Mariano said.
In the spirit of fair journalism, this column reserves a space for Mayor Toby Tiangco’s comment on all the above.