CAMARINES Sur Representatives Luis Ray Villafuerte (District 2) and Rolando Andaya Jr. (District 1) on Friday continued to trade barbs over an airport expansion project within the province.
In a radio interview over dzBB, Villafuerte took a swipe at Andaya anew after a heated altercation at a police station in Pili last Wednesday.
He alleged Andaya appeared to be “mentally unstable and was under the influence of drugs when the incident took place.”
He insisted the dumping of truckloads of soil by his men in a barangay in Pili for the expansion of the Naga Airport was lawful, and that a lower court had already ordered the government to own the land being occupied by some informal settlers.
He said the disputed area was not under the jurisdiction of District 1.
But Andaya claimed Pili was not Villafuerte’s jurisdiction.
“There is a court order. It has been three years ago since we started to improve the soil. The provincial government and Department of Transportation have an agreement on such, to fast-track [the project implementation],” Villafuerte said.
“The provincial government employees have been guarding the place since there is a court order [to possess the land]. That’s why the provincial government dumped soil along the road to enable heavy equipment [to] enter the place,” he added.
He threatened to file criminal charges —grave threat and physical injuries— and even a disbarment petition against Andaya.
The controversy began when Andaya approached Villafuerte inside the Pili police stsation last Wednesday, and confronted him on the complaints of residents of Barangay San Agustin that Camarines Sur Gov. Migz Villafuerte ordered the dumping of soil in their lots, which were to be affected by the airport expansion.
The two lawmakers shouted at one another, and hurled insults and invectives as policemen tried to pacify both of them.
Andaya accused Villafuerte of being gay, while the latter called Andaya uncircumcised.
Villafuerte said Andaya provoked him when he attacked his men.
“In a fit of anger, he punched one of my men, and collared one security personnel from the provincial government. He dragged a woman trying to take video footages of the incident and even grabbed her cellphone. There were two others trying to video, and yet he confiscated phones and radios, and punched them,” he told the radio interview.
Andaya, for his part, denied any attempt to strangle an environment enforcer.
Barangay San Agustin residents, mostly informal settlers waiting for relocation, also threatened to file charges against Villafuerte, who said he would welcome such.
On the other hand, Andaya said he was not challenging Villafuerte, but his personal body guard, a former military, at that time.
“The problem with him [Villafuerte] was that he has forgotten he was a congressman from another district. He acted as if he was the governor, as if he was the one running the affairs of the sitting governor. He was the brains of all of these,” he said.
He even accused Villafuerte and his men of harassing farmers to sell off their lands for a much lower price.
“[It’s] P8 per square meter. Where in hell could you see such? These farmers till hectares and hectares of land, then you will just buy them for P8 per square meter. Where would they end up?” he asked.
He said there was no court order directing the provincial government to possess the disputed area, and that the court has set a hearing on May 2.
“What we are talking about here is the potentional business if the airport is already there [and expanded in Pili]. The poor farmers have to suffer. They are forced to since their farm lots have been dumped with soil,” he said, adding Villafuerte’s men deliberately dumped the place to force them to sell their land.
“If the project is legitimate, why place it in the middle of the road? You can use the side road,” he said.
“The people already knew that old style because it has happened to them several times,” he added.