Who started Taguig tiff? Cayetanos, rivals blame each other

Excited, Pia Cayetano sent a Twitter message on Monday afternoon that she was about to bike to her precinct in Bagumbayan, Taguig to cast her vote. However, her next tweet was one of frustration. "I was not able to vote! Supporters of our opponents in Taguig started hurling invectives at my brothers and throwing punches at them," her tweet read. Cayetano said her brothers Ren and Lino were waiting patiently in line when Dante Tinga's followers started “harassing" them. On the other hand, former barangay chairman Francisco Javier, a Tinga follower, filed physical injuries and malicious mischief charges against Senator Alan Peter Cayetano and his security escorts, the Taguig local government said in a press release on Monday. Javier claims they threw punches at him at the C.P. Sta. Teresa Elementary School in Bagumbayan. Javier also accused Cayetano of throwing his weight around at the poll center. According to Pia Cayetano's Twitter account, Alan arrived with police when he heard their brothers were being harassed. She says his brother could not have instigated the trouble as Javier claimed, since he was not even there when she arrived, adding that Alan even asked the police to maintain peace and order. According to the Javier camp, Ren-Ren Cayetano arrived at the poll center at about 1:15 p.m. Javier approached him and offered that he vote ahead of the rest. The report said Ren-Ren took the offer negatively and began to shout at the top of his voice. After this, the Javier version goes, sibling senators Alan Peter and Pia, their brother Lino, and more than 15 security escorts and supporters arrived at the scene, all of them reportedly fuming. Alan allegedly threw a punch at Javier, but missed, after which his security escorts and supporters allegedly ganged up on the former barangay captain, who was bruised and scratched in the face and other parts of his body. “Hindi ko alam kung bakit sila nagalit sa akin. Dahil siguro nasa kabilang partido ako. Pero hindi ito sapat na dahilan para manakit sila ng tao (I don’t know why they were furious at me. Maybe that’s because I’m with the other party. But that’s not enough reason for them to hurt people)," Javier lamented. On their way out of the school compound, the Cayetanos’ bodyguards brushed aside and hurt several Tinga supporters who were standing across their path, including one of the lawyers of the Tingas, whom they allegedly held by the collar. The report then accused Cayetano of reportedly bullying supporters of the opposing candidate at the covered court of Brgy. Bagong Tanyag Proper. The report also alleged that voters were forced to sign a sheet inside the premises of Jose Cardones Memorial Elementary School in Brgy. South Signal Village, which promises to award lot titles to whoever will vote Cayetano. Pia Cayetano expressed disappointment over the incident and the accusations. "How can they say we instigated it? I was defenseless on my bike, with my trainer and one other assistant when I got to the precinct. A few supporters of Tinga started cursing. One even said ‘PI mo’ [Tagalog cuss word]. So sad, the past month when I campaigned here, I always greet the supporters of our opponent and say God bless you."—JV, GMANews.TV