Padaca allies accuse Dy of harassment; Bojie cries 'unfair'

Allies of reelectionist Isabela Governor Grace Padaca on Saturday accused the camp of her rival of political harassment after a "questionable" raid was conducted at the compound of her ally Mayor Fernando Cumigad in Gamu, Isabela Saturday morning. Padaca's running mate for vice governor, Rep. Edwin Uy (Isabela, second district), said police led by provincial director Jimmy Rivera raided Cumigad's house for firearms at about 7 a.m. Rivera was equipped with a search warrant issued by Judge Raul Babaran of the Cauayan City regional trial court. Cauayan is the bailiwick of Rep. Faustino "Bojie" Dy III, who is Padaca's opponent in the gubernatorial derby. "I fear this is political harassment. [All the firearms of] Mayor Cumigad are licensed. Kung meron mang hindi (If there are any unlicensed ones,] that's because those firearms belong to the army, police of his security group," Uy said in a phone interview with GMANews.TV. He also lamented that the raid was an "overkill" since more than two hundred policemen were deployed to carry out the operation. Cumigad, who was released after posting a P300,000 bail bond, explained that he has been given the license to carry firearms after two failed attempts on his life in 1995 and 2007, but the police official who led the raiding team "refused to listen" to him. "Asan naman hustisya dito? Pinosasan nila ako at ayaw tanggapin na may lisensya yung firearms ko (Where's justice here? They handcuffed me and didn't acknowledge that my firearms were licensed)," he said. The Gamu mayor said he could not understand the basis for the raid, since his guns were not being used outside his house, which is prohibited by the ongoing election firearms ban. Cumigad also questioned the issuance of a search warrant by Judge Babaran, insisting that the Cauayan RTC "has no jurisdiction" over his area. He likewise accused Bojie Dy and his running mate Rep. Rodito Albano of being the brains behind the raid as he's been "supportive of Grace [Padaca] and the [Liberal] party." Rivera: 'Not overkill' Police provincial director Rivera, in a separate phone interview, dismissed accusations that the raid was politically motivated and said Cumigad has been "under surveillance for about a year already." Various guns and stocks of ammunition have been confiscated from the mayor's home, the police official said. "Whether they are licensed or loose firearms, it's up to the police authorities to determine that," he added. Rivera denied that the operation was overkill, saying the deployment of 216 policemen was justifiable as they were tasked to search "nine" of Cumigad's houses. Uy admitted that the mayor has stored guns but stressed that they were "legally" acquired. He also said that Rivera may only be getting back at the mayor since Cumigad "has filed several cases against him." A provincial government source who refused to be identified due to lack of authority to speak on the matter said the motive behind the raid was "questionable." Echoing Cumigad, he said he found it dubious why the search was conducted only two days before the elections and why the search warrant had to be issued by a judge stationed in Cauayan town. In a text message, he stopped short of accusing the Dys but said Babaran and Rivera are known allies of Isabela’s well-entrenched political family. Dy: 'That's unfair' Dy for his part denied having a hand in the police operations, even as he said it is "unfair" to blame his family every time something untoward happens to Padaca or her allies. "Unfair na i-implicate kami dahil in the first place wala akong alam diyan at hindi namin in-appoint yung judge (It’s unfair to implicate us because, in the first place, I don’t know anything about [the raid] and we did not appoint the judge)," he said in a separate phone interview. Dy is trying to reclaim the top provincial post which his family held for 34 years before losing it to Padaca in 2004. The lady governor, who was already a popular radio broadcaster before going into politics, is seeking her third and last term. —JV, GMANews.TV