2 hurt in fight when suspended Lanao mayor tried to enter town hall

ON GUARD Police officers from Lanao del Norte's First Provincial Mobile Force Company secure the municipal hall compound of Kauswagan town on Sunday after an attempt by the suspended mayor to enter the building resulted to a melee that injured two persons. —RICHEL UMEL

KAUSWAGAN, LANAO DEL NORTE—At least two persons were wounded when commotion broke out at the municipal hall here at 3:10 p.m. on Sunday, when suspended Mayor Rommel Arnado and other local officials attempted to enter the town hall.

Harold Yana, 45, an employee from the town’s municipal engineers’ office, and Tomas Manco, 47, the mayor’s security aide, were wounded when employees of the acting mayor stopped their entry, resulting in a commotion that shattered the town hall’s glass door, wounding the two employees, Arnado told the Inquirer.

He said that Yana was injured at his right hand that required 15 stitches while Manco was wounded in the middle of his left hand.

Personnel of Acting Mayor Aga Dimakuta, who assumed office on Jan. 8 after the Lanao del Norte Provincial Board suspended the mayor, and several town officials prevented Arnado and his supporters from entering the town hall by throwing plastic chairs at them while others were armed with long slabs of wood to ward off their unwelcome visitors, shattering the glass exit door.

Kauswagan town hall commotion —RICHEL UMEL

The Lanao del Norte Provincial Board earlier suspended Arnado, along with the town’s vice mayor and several municipal councilors, for grave abuse of authority and misconduct based on a complaint lodged against them by the barangay captain of the town’s Bagumbayan village.

Arnado tried to enter the town hall in the company of the members of the From Arms to Farms Foundation Inc., mostly former Moro Islamic Liberation Army (MILF) combatants.

Police Col. Roy Masalay, provincial police director, said the First Provincial Mobile Force Company has since secured the town hall. Police have also formed Task Force Kauswagan with support from the 4th Mechanized Infantry Battalion to prevent similar confrontation from happening again.

As a result of Sunday’s commotion, the flag raising ceremony at the municipal grounds on Monday was cancelled to avoid another confrontation between the supporters of Arnado and Dimakuta, according to Police Capt. Ruby Jimenez, Task Force Kauswagan spokesperson.

Former MILF combatants and other members of From Arms to Farms in Kauswagan had pledged support for Arnado. They came on Sunday wearing shirts printed with “Never Again,” recalling a previous attempt to dislodge the suspended mayor from his post by questioning his dual citizenship before the Supreme Court.