BACOLOD City – Moises Padilla, Negros Occidental vice mayor Ella Celestina Yulo and husband Felix Mathias III surrendered yesterday morning at the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) headquarters.
The Yulos are facing charges for illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
Judge Cyclamen Jison Fernandez of the Regional Trial Court Branch 63 in La Carlota City, Negros Occidental issued two arrest warrants against them on Aug. 20.
Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) director Chief Superintendent John Bulalacao and Interior and Local Government undersecretary Martin Diño coordinated with the Yulos for the surrender.
Before they couple was brought to the court, Bulalacao presented them in a press conference at the BCPO headquarters.
The Yulos were then placed under the custody of the municipal police station of La Castellana, Negros Occidental, said BCPO head Senior Superintendent Francisco Ebreo, who accompanied the couple to the court.
The Yulos are “presumed innocent until proven guilty,” stressed Bulalacao, assuring the couple that their rights “shall be upheld” and that they will be “duly accorded with due process.”
“We take their act of voluntarily surrendering as a manifestation of respect for the rule of law and the justice system,” the PRO-6 chief added.
Ella Celestina said they initially planned to turn themselves in at the La Castellana police station but they chose the BCPO being the “nearest point” as they were staying in Bacolod.
The vice mayor said they fear for their safety that was why they did not surrender immediately.
“With the assistance of DILG undersecretary Martin Diño, my brother and my nephew, we were able to ask help from Bulalalcao to initiate the surrender,” Ella Celestina added.
In December 2017, the Yulos were arrested at a checkpoint in the boundary of Moises Padilla and La Castellana towns.
The couple – on board a Mitsubishi Strada – was bound for Bacolod City at the time.
Recovered from the vehicle were a .45-caliber gun, two hand grenades, sachets of suspected shabu, and P45,000 cash, a report from the Moises Padilla police station showed.
But Ella Celestina said the weapons and the suspected drugs were “planted.”
In a counter-affidavit she filed following the arrest, the vice mayor said the accusations against them were “highly malicious, erroneous and fabricated.”
The Provincial Crime Laboratory later declared that the recovered substances from the Yulos were not drugs.
But earlier this year, Provincial Prosecutor Rodrigo Diaz found probable cause to charge them with illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
Now that their “safety is guaranteed,” Ella Celestina said they will face the charges filed against them.
“We will face this because this is just political harassment. They planted the evidence. I will not run,” she stressed.
Felix Mathias added, “Waay kami intention nga mapalagyo kay waay kami sala nga nabuhat. Napangayo lang namon sang asawa ko is justice.”
One of the arrest warrants issued against the Yulos recommended a P200,000 bail bond for each of them. The other one recommended none.
Ella Celestina said their legal counsel is preparing documents so that they can apply for bail. She added that she already filed an indefinite leave as Moises Padilla vice mayor.
Meanwhile, Vice Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson welcomed the surrender of the Yulos, calling it the “right thing to do.”
Ella Celestina and Lacson both belong to the local political group Love-Negros.
With them surrendering, the Yulos will have ample time to prove their innocence, Lacson said.
“They had been insisting their innocence. Now they can prove it,” he added.
The vice governor also said he is confident that the police will provide the protection that the Yulos need. (With Ranie Azue/PN)
