23/05/2021
LOOK | Official statement of BM Ed Atutubo of the incident at Irosin Gymnasium May 21,2021.
Upon arrival at the site, our party already felt the hostilite environment. We are aware that the Local Government of Irosin was hesitant to hold such event, but as officials of the Province, and as directed by the governor, we had to exhaust all efforts in ensuring that proper education on minimum health standards is disseminated until the very last barangay in the province.
There are a number of things I want to clear out. One of which is the wrongful accusation of Kgd. Borlagdan, that as we were debating, I had “thrown” water at Kgd. Salome Olbes. This is not true.
The truth was that while we were engaged in the debate about the efficacy of holding the Information Caravan, I had refuted Kgd. Olbes’ statement that they are enforcing the ordinance of prohibiting minor children outside and the mandatory wearing of facemask. I told her that based on my observation since we started touring around Irosin, I had seen instances where the minimum health standards were not properly implemented.
I approached her holding in my left hand two cellphones showing pictures of children playing in the park, and vendors at the public market not wearing facemasks. When I scrolled with my right hand, which was then holding bottled water at that time, it accidentally spilled water at the lap of the kagawad, for which I immediately said sorry as I tried to wipe the spilled water.
After what seems like 30 minutes, Kgd. Borlagdan stood up with a microphone in his hand, accusing me of being unethical. By that time, I didn’t have a microphone with me and I was caught by the cameras shouting “Tell the truth!”, so I would be heard.
After such, I immediately left the front area and headed to the exit, but I was met by the Municipal Administrator Enzo Ubalde shouting “Kadianes, karaot san ugale mo!” with blaring eyes, and a hard tap on my shoulder which was then followed by a punch that caused me to step back. As a defense reaction, I had to threw in a punch that landed below his eye, that also caused him to step back.
These were all caught by the videos which showed the commotion between me and Ubalde. I will always stand my ground in defense of my honor. Thankfully, with the help with the PNP officers, the Municipal Administrator and I have settled our differences and parted in good terms in the presence of Mayor Cielo, Mayor Hamor, Vice Gov Fortes and BM Añonuevo, for which I am thanking Mr. Ubalde for.
With this statement, I would like to correct these accusations circulating in social media sites showing selective portions of what truly transpired. We are aware that videos of such are continuously shared, and is earning adverse reactions from nitizens who are kept in the dark about the entire truth.
Even so, I would like to express my gratitude to well-meaning friends who reached out to me, wanting to know the entire truth when they came across these malicious videos. Even amidst these adversities, I thank God for the many people who know me best, and many others who are not easily fooled by propagandists who have taken advantage of this commotion.
I have served almost 40 years in Government service with outmost dedication, and I was never involved in anything scandalous. People I serve, and people who work closely with me know only that I am committed to work, most especially in helping the task force in the information dissemination about how we can combat Covid19, not just in Irosin but other municipalities. I only ask that we follow and accept the directives handed down by the provincial government, as these are done with the best interest of Sorsoganons in mind.
I am expressing my sincere apologies to the people of Irosin because of the commotion this incident had caused, but I will continue to pursue the advocacy of the task force, even with many people misunderstanding our objectives.
My appeal is that we work together to survive from this pandemic, and that may we always rely on TRUTH in combating this.
Praying for everyone’s safety.
Thank you and God bless us all.
♥️
