Under arrest: Vice mayor, husband surrender

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — A town vice-mayor in Negros Occidental and her husband yesterday surrendered to the police,  three weeks after arrest warrants were issued on August 20 against them by La Carlota Regional Trial Court Judge Cyclamen Jison-Fernandez, for illegal possession of firearms and explosives.

The surrender of Moises Padilla Vice-Mayor Ella Celestina Garcia-Yulo and her husband, Felix Mathias Segundo Feria Yulo III, came after their family sought the help of the Department of Interior and Local Government regarding their security, if they will turn over themselves to authorities.

Chief  Superintendent John Bulalacao, regional director of the Police Regional Office-6, who earlier met the Yulo couple at the Bacolod City Police Office headquarters, assured them of their safety.

Bulalacao said the Yulo couple is presumed innocent, unless proven guilty by the court.

The issuance of the arrest warrants against the couple stemmed from the alleged recovery of two firearms and two grenades at the vehicle they were riding, while passing at a police checkpoint on December 19, last year in Moises Padilla town, Negros Occidental.

Judge Fernandez recommended no bail for illegal possession of explosives and a bail of P200,000 each for charges for illegal possession of firearms.

Karol Joseph Chiu, counsel of the Yulo couple, maintained that his clients are innocent of the charges against them, stressing also that they have a pending petition at the Department of Justice for review of the cases, they described as trump-up charges.

The New People’s Army Leonardo Panaligan Command also came to the rescue of the Yulo couple, by strongly condemning the issuance of arrest warrants against them, for what it alleged to be trumped-up charges brought about by “dirty politics.”

Vice-Mayor Yulo disclosed that their surrender to authorities was a welcome relief, stressing that they are now ready to face charges against them in court, to prove their innocence. (FREEMAN)