CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines – Senators took turns calling out the police and military for their June 16 operation to force suspended Mayor Samson Dumanjug out of the town hall of Bonifacio, Misamis Occidental.
TESTIFY. Mayor Samson Dumanjug of Bonifacio, Misamis Occidental, attends the Senate public inquiry on the alleged inhumane and irregular acts done against him by law enforcers, on August 1, 2023. Dumanjug’s group accused authorities of a string of violations and irregularities when heavily armed masked men raided the town hall in June just to force the suspended mayor out.
Senators also questioned why Army soldiers were involved in the purely law enforcement operation when the police can handle that. Dumanjug said a member of the team pointed a rifle at him after the group shattered windows in the town hall.At the hearing, Dumanjug alleged that members of the Incident Command System of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office tied his hands and feet, while his head was wrapped with aOne of Dumanjug’s lawyers told senators that he was not immediately allowed to see and assist the mayor and was even asked to show a contract of engagement with his client.