LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – A barangay chairman in Tinglayan town, Kalinga, is now facing administrative and criminal charges for blocking and forcibly taking five residents whom the police were trying to arrest while in the act of planting marijuana.
Capt. Marnie Abellanida, deputy information officer of the Regional Police Office-Cordillera, said the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG)-Kalinga Field Unit and Kalinga Provincial Police Office jointly filed a case against Leon Lammawen Baydon, Barangay Chairman of Barangay Buscalan, Tinglayan, Kalinga.
The administrative case for grave misconduct was filed with the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon on May 20, while the criminal case for violation of Presidential Decree 1829 (Obstruction of Justice) was filed with the office of the Provincial Prosecutors Office, Justice Hall Bulanao, Tabuk City, Kalinga on May 23.
According to Abellanida, on April 25, 2022, personnel of the PNP Regional Mobile Force Battalion 1502nd Maneuver Company arrested five men in violation of Republic Act 9165, RA 10591 and Commission on Election gun ban, after catching them in the act of cultivating marijuana during their operation in the mountainous part of Buscalan, Tinglayan, Kalinga.
While walking through Centro Buscalan, the policemen and the arrested suspects were allegedly stopped by Baydon and about 150 local residents who were all armed with bolos and forcibly took the five arrested individuals and quickly left the area.
According to Abellanida, the police quietly left the said barangay to avoid any incident.