It was a case of political dishonesty the canard peddled by critics of Gov. Edgar Chatto that his opponent for governor Carmen Mayor Conchita Toribio de los Reyes was ambushed three Saturdays ago. “When the public is wanting in information, let us precisely give the people the truth,” said the governor while his detractors intensified last week their senseless calculated “I-was-ambushed” propaganda. Both the provincial and municipal police commands firmly reiterated in their official reports that there was no ambush, not even an attempt, on Mayor De los Reyes, her armed escorts and convoy. But the camp and cohorts of the first-termer mayor, who is so obsessed to rule the entire Bohol, appeared hell-bent to drag Chatto, Provincial Administrator Alfonso Damalerio II, Trinidad Mayor Roberto Cajes who is running for congressman in the Second District and Rep. Rene Relampagos of the First District to the otherwise imaginary ambush apparently to depict them as violent and dangerous.

An ambush is defined as a trap in which concealed persons lie in wait to attack by surprise, the governor quoted during his weekly media interaction on the Kita ug Ang Gobernador radio program. Chatto drew from this description five elements of an ambush, namely, the trap, concealed persons, lying in wait, attack, and by surprise. While there was never an attack by surprise during the supposed ambush because what actually happened was a traffic vehicular accident, the policemen only found near the area two young men with knives and wires believed to be stolen. Right on the spot and at the time of the road mishap, the Carmen mayor herself called the police and reported that their convoy figured in a vehicular accident---not an ambush--- because of some stones blocking the road. As they responded, the policemen spotted the two men not far from the accident site and arrested them. They have been charged by the police with malicious mischief, not ambush. In spite of this, the governor wanted to get into the bottom of the issue as he ordered a separate NBI probe which finding he still awaits.

In police parlance, an ambush is a series of acts leading to overpower a target, according to the governor, and thus the attackers must have a superior force. Chatto noted that the policemen had only charged their two arrested suspects with malicious mischief only for how could these young people solely armed with knives ambush a mayor with armed bodyguards in a vehicular convoy. There was a superior strength present on the side of the mayor, but the governor understood why some partisan quarters redefined ambush to suit their intent. Many from the agencies involved in the Provincial Peace and Order Council wondered why the Carmen mayor and his handlers like Tagbilaran City Mayor Dan Lim themselves did not initiate ambush charges. Instead, they concocted the ambush story only several days after the vehicular accident and fanned it on their favorite radio. Chatto said that if he were surprised by the members of the Bohol tri-media and interviewed there and there, it would be an ambush interview.

“Then do we need a firearm for that, to use the word ambush?” the governor asked. “I could only complaint against being ambushed because I am trapped by the mediamen in concealed position and interviewed by surprise.” The context here is not intended to harm but rather get information, yet the act is still defined as an ambush, Chatto emphasized. The ambush tale tailored by De los Reyes and Lim should involve an alleged plot to inflict harm or injury, or maybe even greater danger that requires higher tool of violence to overpower the target, her security group and convoy. In this ambush, a different context assumes with the elements of trap, concealed persons lying in wait, design to overpower, and surprise attack, Chatto said. The governor prayed that he has clearly shared his view on the issue in the face of falsehood and deception spread out and wide by the partisan “intellectual dishonest.” “Intellectual honesty is critical in time like this and we just have to be honest in our comprehension and understanding,” Chatto appealed.

He said the public has to be rightly guided and this is a responsibility of every Boholano, whether he is a government official, politician, journalist or professional. The ambush that never was has annoyed the Boholano community since the citizens of Bohol are not used to such a dangerous falsehood. The governor said the issue cannot make our business and investment climate fair while at the same time tending to sabotage Bohol’s tourism boom and other economic gains. Chatto thanked God that the ambush only exploded in fertile minds. But even if it was purely a hoax, spreading the falsehood spiced with wild allegations already transgressed Bohol peace and security, the governor lamented. (Ven rebo Arigo)