BACOLOD CITY — The vice mayor of Moises Padilla, Negros Occidental and her husband, who were subjects of two arrest warrants, voluntarily surrendered to the police here on Tuesday.
Vice Mayor Ella Garcia-Yulo and Felix Mathias Segundo Yulo III are charged with illegal possession of explosives and firearms.
The Yulos turned themselves in to Chief Supt. John Bulalacao, director of Police Regional Office 6 (Western Visayas), at the Bacolod City Police headquarters.
“They sent a text message to me and also surrender feelers, so I acceded. There was also help from the DILG (Department of the Interior and Local Government),” Bulalacao said in a press conference.
The warrants of arrest for the couple were issued by Judge Cyclamen Jison-Fernandez of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 63 in La Carlota City, Negros Occidental on August 20.
The case for violation of Section 3 of Republic Act (RA) No. 9516 or illegal possession of explosives has no bail while the couple can post a bail of PHP200,000 each for their provisional liberty for violation of RA 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act.
Garcia-Yulo said she did not surrender immediately due to fear of her safety.
She and her husband only decided to surrender when they were able to seek assistance from DILG Undersecretary Martin Diño, as well as Bulalacao.
“Now that the safety is guaranteed, I will have to face this because this is just political harassment. They planted the evidence,” she said.
The vice mayor’s husband said they don’t have any intention to evade arrest because they are not guilty of the charges. “We ask for justice for my wife and for me,” Yulo said.
Bulalacao said the police assures the Yulo couple that “their rights will be upheld and they will be accorded with due process of law” and they are “presumed innocent until proven guilty by the court of law.”
“We will return the warrants of arrest to the court of origin. Their custody will depend on the judge,” he added.
The couple was accompanied by Senior Supt. Francisco Ebrero, Bacolod police acting director, during their court appearance in La Carlota City after they showed up at the headquarters.
“The police is capable of protecting them if they will be placed in the custody of the Philippine National Police. We will assist the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in their security if the court will order us to turn them over to the BJMP,” Bulalacao added.
In December last year, the couple was arrested in a police checkpoint in Moises Padilla where they allegedly yielded two fragmentation grenades and several firearms, as well as illegal drugs, which were later found to be fake.(Nanette Guadalquiver/PNA)
