TACLOBAN CITY – City Commission on Elections (Comelec) Officer Ma. Corazon Montallana said she would file grave coercion charges against several allies and supporters of mayoralty bet Dan Palami in connection with the “commotion” that happened at the City Comelec Office during the May 7 deadline on the substitution of candidates.
Atty. Montallana, however, initially declined to name the persons who will be the respondents in the said case.
According to Montallana, what several supporters and allies of Palami did to her at that time amounted to serious harassment and grave coercion, thus she has decided to file a complaint before the City Prosecutors Office.
“Their (Palami and company) supporters were already inside my office when they were not supposed to be there, and were jeering at me. While, Arvin (Atty. Antoni) and Roy (Atty. Perez) were pressuring me to decide their way. With their actions of harassing and intimidating me to decide in their favor, they were already interfering with my official functions, thereby making them liable for grave coercion,” Montallana stressed.
“Anytime soon, I will be filing my complaint before the prosecutor’s office,” she disclosed.
Last May 7, Palami, his runningmate Atty. Arvin Antoni, and hundreds of their supporters converged at the Comelec office and tried to prevent a representative of a certain Rogelio Picoro Antoni, who was allegedly “kidnapped” by henchmen of Vice Mayor Edwin Chua in an alleged bid to confuse voters, from filing his Certificate of Candidacy (COC) through a Special Power of Attorney (SPA).
Rogelio P. Antoni was supposed to substitute for a certain Mervin Añover, who had earlier filed his COC for vice mayor of the city.
When it became apparent then Montallana will allow the COC filing, Antoni and layer Roy Perez engaged the election officer in a heated debate and tried to persuaded her not to accept the COC by citing “defects” on the SPA and the representative’s explicit acknowledgment that he was only tasked by a certain Atty. Antonio Lopez nd does not know or have never met (Rogelio) Antoni.
Fearing for her security, as supporters of Palami arrived in droves at her office, Montallana then asked assistance from the police and Mayor Alfredo “Bejo” Romualdez, who immediately proceeded to the Comelec office.
Tension rose as the mayor arrived at the scene and supporters of Palami tried to block the mayor from entering the office of the lection officer.
The arrival of more policemen eventually defused the tension, and at the dismay of Palami and supporters, decided to accept the COC of Antoni.
“My duty here us only ministerial. I have to accept any document filed at my office and transmit it to the legal department. I have no right to deny any document that comes to my office, much less a COC. Thus, what I did in accepting the COC of Antoni was completely legal and within my area of responsibility as elections officer,” she said.
“My advice for Palami and his allied is just t accept my decision and then file a disqualification against Roger Antoni,” she said.
