Mayor, 18 more ordered arrested for illegal detention, closing resort

By Freddie Lazaro

CABUGAO, Ilocos Sur – The youngest mayor elected in Phil­ippine history and 18 other local government employees were ordered arrested for seri­ous illegal detention and grave coercion in connection with a 2017 forcible takeover of a beach resort here.

Regional Trial Court Branch 24 Acting Presiding Judge Ra­phiel Alzate, in his order last Monday, directed policemen, CIDG agents or National Bureau of Investigation agents to arrest Cabugao mayor Josh Edward Cobangbang, 24, and 18 others in connection with a complaint filed by a local resort manager that she, her four-year-old son and several of her employees were detained upon orders of Cobangbang.

In her complaint, Virginia Nicole Savellano Ong said she, her son and employees were “detained and bullied” when the Cabugao Beach Resort was ordered padlocked in August 2017.

Cobangbang was acknowl­edged as the youngest mayor ever to be elected in Philippine history when he ran and won as Cabugao mayor in 2016 at the age of 21 years and seven months.

Justice Undersecretary Deo Marco had earlier ordered the Ilocos Sur provincial prosecu­tors office to indict Cobangbang and his co-accused after finding all the elements of serious illegal detention case present in Ong’s allegations.

Marco noted that Cabugao employees, upon Cobangbang’s orders, proceeded to shut down the resort even without any court order or order from a competent authority and padlocked the rooms, closed the resort gates and stationed several men, be­lieved to be armed, at the resort on August 23, 2017.

Marco also decided that an earlier ruling by an Ilocos Sur Special Prosecutor finding prob­able cause for grave coercion versus the town mayor and the 18 employees should be upheld as he found “all the elements of these cases present.”

Alzate allowed Cobangbang and the 18 other co-accused to post bail of P36,000 each.