A fight erupted between a Jagna councilor and his fellow municipal council member during a regular session of the town’s Sangguniang Bayan (SB) on Tuesday morning.
As seen on the municipal hall’s closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera footage, Councilor Arnoldo Peilago took off his barong, walked towards Councilor Anthony Aniscal who had just arrived inside the session hall and punched him.
The fight between the two councilors continued inside their office cubicles, as captured by another CCTV footage.
Aniscal said that he was hit in the shoulder when Peilago threw a punch during the confrontation.
Aniscal revealed that he was surprised with what happened.
Both confrontations were blocked by other SB members and personnel, some of them were seen in CCTV being pushed off by Peilago.
The reason behind the heated encounter was due to Aniscal’s stand on Peilago’s initiatives to bar vendors from selling their products at the Jagna plaza during the town’s fiesta last week.
Aniscal stated that the move created mixed reactions from the public. His comment about the issue was aired on a radio show in Jagna and through Facebook which annoyed Peilago.
Aniscal said that during the town’s fiesta celebration, no vendor was allowed to sell in the town plaza which was near the parish church. He said that it was Peilago who made the suggestion to bar vendors. This suggestion was supported by PNP Jagna chief and members of the Fiesta steering committee. Aniscal suspects that Peilago got mad at him for revealing in his radio program and on Facebook that it was Pielago who made the proposal.
The SB’s regular session resumed but with two police officers on standby monitoring the session.
Aniscal was asked by Vice Mayor Tedoro Abrenilla to skip the session but he declined since he was not the one who started the confrontation.
Aniscal said the session resumed without a fuzz and that Peilago just sat quietly throughout the session.
Aniscal, who’s also a radio anchor for local station dyRD, refused to say on whether or not he will file a complaint against his colleague. Peilago, on the other hand, has yet to issue his side regarding the incident. (RJ Espartinez)