CALL it Christmas in November.
It’s the Nov. 24, 2023, 13-page decision of Bacolod City Regional Trial Court Executive Judge Edgar Tupas acquitting Moises Padilla, Negros Occidental’s Mayor Ella Garcia and husband, Felix Matias Segundo “Pempoy” Yulo III on the charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives filed against them nearly six years ago.
“Now, I know God had never forsaken us,” said Mayor Ella.
The teary-eyed mayor, who faced the media Friday night last week hours after their acquittal, defined the word jubilation out of a six-year tribulation as the “sweetest victory” in their lives.
“T’was exasperating. So taxing. We fought a tyrant. We even lost two of our loved ones yet we prevailed,” the lady mayor stressed.
“Grabe, kapoy! Indi lahug-lahug,” Pempoy’s simple line.
Asked of the lesson they’ve learned out of these “extraordinary criminal charges” filed against them, the Yulo couple simply said: “Always be honest. Trust God. He knows!”
‘PLANTED’ EVIDENCE
The “misery” of Ella and Pempoy started on the night of Dec. 19, 2017 when they were blocked in a check point in Barangay Crossing Magallon, Moises Padilla by six policemen led by chief of police, Senior Inspector Allan Reloj.
She was a vice mayor at that time.
Police report stated that the Yulo couple who, at the time, was onboard a Mitsubishi Strada pick-up, brought with them two unlicensed .45 caliber pistols with live bullets and two fragmentation grenades.
Ella and Pempoy said those firearms and explosives were “planted”. But the police still pursued court charges against them.
Ella and Pempoy were incarcerated three months at the La Castellana Municipal Police Station (LCMPS) and seven months at the Negros Occidental Provincial Jail (NOPJ) in Barangay Abuanan, Bago City.
APRIL 25, 2019 AMBUSH
It was only on April 3, 2019 when they were allowed by the court to post bail in the amount of P210,000 each for their temporary liberty.
That time, Ella was already running against her uncle, incumbent Mayor Magdaleno Peña.
On April 25, 2019 while on a campaign trail in Barangay Inolingan, Ella’s team was ambushed by alleged New People’s Army (NPA) rebels.
Jose Marcelino alias “Mark” and Michael Garcia, Ella’s brother and nephew, respectively, perished in that ambush.
Former President Rodrigo Duterte personally went to Moises Padilla and assured everyone’s safety during the May 13, 2019 election.
Ella won as mayor over Peña, and the rest is history.
In October 2020, the six cops, including Reloj, in the controversial checkpoint were dismissed from the police service by the National Police Commission (Napolcom) for grave misconduct and grave irregularities in the performance of duty.
‘LOWEST MOMENT’
Ella and Pempoy said their “lowest moment” was when they were jailed.
“We can’t find lawyers to defend us in court. It was the hardest part in our lives. Aside from illegal possession of firearms and explosives, we were also charged with other criminal charges like murder, frustrated murder. That time, we don’t know what the hell we’re into,” Ella said.
Worse, four court judges in La Carlota City and Bacolod City inhibited from the cases.
“I cried almost every day. Don’t know what to do. We’re desperate. We’re hapless,” Ella told the media.
The Yulo couple thanked the late Interior and Local Government undersecretary Martin Diño and the late governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. for not abandoning them.
Both (Diño and Marañon) ensured their safety even inside the NOPJ.
‘REGALO DE CEILO’
But with Judge Tupas, the fifth judge to handle the celebrated cases against Ella and Pempoy – docketed as Criminal Case No. 5456 (Illegal Possession of Firearms) and Criminal Case No. 5457 (Illegal Possession of Explosives) – the gist of his acquittal order was simply anchored on the lack of sufficient evidence.
For the Yulo couple, such a court decision was a regalo de cielo, a gift from heaven.
“Justice (really) prevailed,” declared Ella. “Legally and officially, nakuha na ang tunok sa amon dughan.”
POWER IN PRAYER
Talking to Ella and Pempoy last week, I can conclude there’s immense power in prayer. The couple stressed they never ceased praying every day.
They placed their faith in God, and hoped He won’t forsake them. And it happened.
Trials polish us for something good. Even the “nerdy” American rapper and song writer Kendrick Lamar Duckworth once said: “People have to go through trials and tribulations to get where they at.”
I salute Ella and Pempoy for being brave in weathering the “storms” in their lives.
For Ella, for not “giving up” in the battle she’s into in 2019 in spite of tragic incidents that challenged her was a great manifestation that, indeed, she’s an epitome of “women empowerment beyond borders”.
Ella is like Jackie Speier, an independent lady who was shot five times during the Jonestown massacre in 1978 yet she went on to become a highly respected congresswoman in the United States of America.
Like Speier, Ella is also a portrait of an ideal, strong and unique lady leader Negros has right now./PN
