ROXAS City – A video which allegedly shows the mother of President Roxas mayor Receliste Escolin hitting a PWD (person with disabilities) at the town’s public market on Feb. 12 has gone viral on Facebook.
The video has earned almost 19,000 views as of press time after it was posted on Friday. The footage shows a woman repeatedly hitting a PWD with a bamboo stick.
Manuel Delfin, 23, the PWD in the video, related to Panay News the series of events that led to the confrontation. Delfin said he was helping his aunt at her store in the public market around 10:30 a.m. on Feb. 12, when Emma Lachica Escolin, 63, mother of the President Roxas mayor allegedly approached him and punched him in the face.
Delfin claims that after punching him, the Escolin matriarch also berated him and hit him with a bamboo stick.
“Naakig siya sa akon kay gin-post ko sa Facebook ang mga anomaliya sang iya bata nga mayor,” Delfin told Panay News.
Delfin posted on his Facebook wall, among others, posts questioning the inclusion of the three siblings of the town mayor as recipients of the National Housing Project in President Roxas including Barangay Badiangon village chief Remboy Escolin.
Delfin also claimed the Rural Health Unit doesn’t have enough supply of medicine intended for residents seeking medical help and that the town employs numerous ghost employees who only report during payday.
“Pati ang kabulig sa balay sang mayor and naga-sweldo munisipyo,” Delfin claimed.
Delfin related that he knows about the alleged anomalies committed by the local chief executive as he was employed as a job-order employee of the municipality for nearly two years. He decided not to renew his contract in October last year.
Delfin is set to file oral defamation charges and slight physical injuries against the Escolin matriarch.
In an interview with Panay News, mayor Escolin denied some of the allegations of Delfin. He admitted though that his mother was probably angered by the posts prompting her to confront and hit Delfin.
“My mother is already 63-years old, kag asta subong naga baligya sia gihapon sang banana cue kag naga-drive sang tricycle para mag hakot sang kawayan para ibaligya. Si Delfin ang nag-provoke una sa akon iloy,” Escolin told Panay News.
Escolin also said Delfin was never a job-hire of the municipality, as his salary came from the mayor’s own pocket.
When asked about his siblings’ inclusion as recipient of the NHA project, Escolin said his brother, Renboy Escolin and had passed the evaluation conducted by the NHA long before he was elected as village chief of Badiangon last year.
“Wala ina siya balay kag tatlo iya kabataan kag pag-evaluate sang NHA naka pasar siya,” Escolin said.
Escolin said he will also press charges against Delfin./PN
