FILE PHOTO: Facade of the Quezon City Hall.
MANILA, Philippines — The Quezon City government has expressed sadness with the organizer of the motorcade of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Sara Duterte-Carpio on Wednesday as they refused to coordinate with the local government.
The city government said they had a meeting with the organizers on Monday wherein authorities ensured that they will deploy 1,000 personnel from the Department of Public Order and Safety, Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, Task Force Disiplina. and Bureau of Fire Protection.
It also pledged to allot four ambulances as a staging area was put up in Liwasang Aurora inside Quezon City Memorial Circle for the event.
However, the Quezon City government said in a statement: “Ikinalungkot ng lokal na pamahalaan na tila nagbago ng isip ang organizer ng motorcade at tumangging makipag-coordinate sa lokal na pamahalaan.”
(The local government is saddened with the change of mind of the motorcade organizer and refused to coordinate with us.)
The motorcade of Marcos Jr. and Duterte-Carpio started along Commonwealth Avenue and was expected to end in Welcome Rotonda in Quezon City.
According to Quezon City’s chief Attorney Niño Casimiro, the lack of coordination contributed to the traffic congestion along the city’s major highway.
“It contributed because ‘yun nga po, if we had a very important information kung saan po ‘yung kanilang route, ‘yung expected time po, ‘yung approximate number of participants, mas madali po nating matutugunan ‘yung sa traffic,” he said in a phone interview with INQUIRER.net.
(It contributed because if we had very important information about their route, expected time, and the approximate number of participants, the response on traffic would be easier.)
Casimiro shared that partylist congressman Mike Defensor and Thorrsson Montes Keith of BBM National Leaders earlier wrote a letter to the Quezon City government to ask permission to hold a caravan.
When asked about the withdrawal of the request for coordination, Casimiro said that Defensor may have political reasons while the BBM National Leaders may have perceived that the local government has inadequate capacity.
Defensor is running for mayor of the city in the May 2022 polls.
“‘Yung kay Congressman Mike, ako, I would say it’s a very political reason. Tapos ‘yung itong sa pangalawang grupo po, in general naman po, ‘yung kanilang pananaw po ay hindi daw po kaya or inadequate daw po sa tingin nila ‘yung kapasidad ng Quezon City government to help them,” he said.
(I would say Congressman Mike’s reason is very political. The other group, in general, thinks the local government’s capacity is inadequate.)
Despite the withdrawal of the group’s request, the Quezon City government continued to provide assistance during the motorcade.
“Sa kabila ng biglang pag-atras ng kanilang request, itutuloy ng lokal na pamahalaan na magbigay ng suporta bagama’t limitado ang aming alam na detalye sa magaganap na pagtitipon,” the city government said.
(Despite their withdrawal of the coordination request, the local government will continue to give support even if the details we know are limited.)
The local government of Quezon City emphasized that it is open to all candidates from all sides to conduct their activities in the city but only asks for coordination to ensure that pandemic rules are observed and peace and order are maintained.
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