Poll body control, gun ban in N. Ecija pushed

CABANATUAN CITY– The Josons, once the dominant political dynasty in Nueva Ecija, are supportive of proposals for the imposition of a total gun ban and the placing of the province under the control of the Commission on Elections to ensure honest, orderly and peaceful elections in 2010.

Former four-time governor Tomas Joson III, titular head of the Bagong Lakas ng Nueva Ecija, told that their family is collectively for the Comelec to take control of the province and for the Philippine National Police to enforce a total gun ban.

“Of course we are in favor of that,” said Joson, who served as governor in 1992,1998,2001 and 2004.

Joson, father of Vice Gov. Edward Thomas, said, however, that while he favors the twin proposals, he also wished that the PNP would only allow a maximum of four security escorts for local politicians, saying others tend to go beyond the allowable limit of security escorts. “If possible, security escorts should be limited to only four,” he said.

While he did not name names, he was apparently referring to politicians, who reportedly are surrounding themselves with dozens of heavily armed bodyguards serving as their private army supposedly due to death threats.

For his part, Ecija governor Aurelio Umali also favors placing the province under Comelec control and even claimed he would not have been governor today if the province had not been placed under the poll body’s control in 2007.

Before the 2007 polls, Umali had asked the Comelec to place the province under its control which the poll body did not immediately act upon.

In March 2007, two persons were killed while 17 others, including the two sons of then-Jaen mayor Antonio Prospero Esqui¬vel, were wounded in a firefight between Esquivel’s camp and supporters of fourth district Rep. Rodolfo Antonino. The incident, considered the bloodiest election-related violence, prompted then-Comelec chairman Benjamin Abalos to place the province under its control.

Senior Superintendent Ricardo Marquez, provincial police director, earlier said that some policemen do not tell the truth when it comes to the actual number of loose firearms.

“How can you believe that we only have 200 loose firearms when we have recovered 200 loose firearms in last year’s operation alone?” he asked.