CEBU City Councilor and independent mayoral candidate David “Dave” Tumulak will seek the help of the police after receiving what he perceived to be a threat to his life.In a press conference on Thursday, April 21, 2022, Tumulak said an employee of Cebu City Hall who is from his opponent’s political party had contacted his driver to inquire about his whereabouts.Tumulak’s driver, who requested anonymity, said the individual bribed him with a position in City Hall if he would divulge the schedule of the councilor’s activities.“Nitawag dayon siya nako. Ni ana siya: ‘Naa koy offer nimo. Kanang sulti lang kung kinsay presidente ni sir tapos asa mo maglakaw,’” said Tumulak’s driver. (He called me. He said, ‘I have an offer for you. Just say which presidential candidate your boss is going for and where you are going.’)The incident occurred on April 9 with the City Hall employee first texting, then calling the driver over his cellphone.Tumulak said he considered this a threat since the person wanted to know his itinerary.“That is a threat. Can you imagine they wanted to know asa among mga lakaw (where we would go)? Unsa man ilang plano? Nagplano sila og dautan (What’s their plan? They are planning something evil),” said Tumulak.In the six-way race for Cebu City mayor, Tumulak is running against incumbent Mayor Michael Rama of Partido Barug-PDP Laban, former city councilor Margarita “Margot” Osmeña of the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan, and independent candidates Crisologo Saavedra Jr., Juanito Luna and Edgar Concha Jr. in the May 9 elections.Sought for comment Friday, April 22, Mayor Rama said he had no idea about the threat and Tumulak should be more specific about where the threat came from.“He should be very specific on who, so that we can bring that particular matter before a particular body in the city hall,” Rama told SunStar Cebu.SunStar also reached out to the camp of Osmeña but received no response as of press time.According to Tumulak, the threat had resulted in changes in his campaign sorties and affected his team psychologically.“I was really concerned sa among paglakaw-lakaw (about our movements), pero (but) it does not mean nga nakapaluya ug nakapahunong sa atong kampanya (that it has weakened or stopped our campaigning),” said Tumulak.Tumulak urged his opponents not to resort to threats since they have the same goal of serving the public.The councilor said he will report this to the police for investigation.“I will raise this concern because during the signing of the peace covenant, I was sincere to enforce the conditions,” said Tumulak.Tumulak, Rama and Osmeña were present during the peace covenant signing held last March 23 at the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO).Tumulak also urged the Philippine National Police (PNP) to be more visible, with only a few days remaining before the elections.Lt. Col. Wilbert Parilla, CCPO deputy director for operations, said they are willing to provide police security to Tumulak if he asks for it because it is the directive of PNP Chief Dionardo Carlos to ensure the safety of candidates for the May 9 elections.But Parilla said the candidate must first undergo the threat assessment by the Intelligence Division of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas before his request for police protection can be granted.Tumulak is the first candidate in Cebu City to announce that he has received a threat. (IRT, AYB / TPT)