Atty. Barry Gutierrez. FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) has claimed that the campaign rally of Vice President Leni Robredo and Sen. Kiko Pangilinan on Macapagal Boulevard in Pasay last Saturday was only attended by around 70,000 to 80,000 people, contrary to the campaign organizers’ estimate of more than 400,000.
Robredo’s spokesman Barry Gutierrez, however, insisted their camp’s earlier crowd estimate of 412,000 is accurate.
“It was attended to by an estimated crowd of more or less 70,000 to 80,000 supporters and volunteers onboard of [more or less] 300 cars, 15 buses, 100 [motorcycles] and 15 PUJs (public utility vehicles),” the NCRPO said in a statement on Monday.
The NCRPO also noted that “a great number of rallyist did not stay for the whole duration of the event but left after a while.”
However, Gutierrez, in a text message to INQUIRER.net on Tuesday, stressed that the Macapagal Boulevard — which is five kilometers long and 32 meter wide — “was packed with volunteers and supporters.”
“We stand by our estimate,” Gutierrez said. “Anyone can use online tools to verify the crowd estimate, and we are confident our numbers will be sustained.”
The event, which was held during Robredo’s birth anniversary and attended by some of the country’s top celebrities, artists, musicians and influencers, had been “generally peaceful” with no “untoward incidents” reported, according to NCRPO.
The NCRPO also said they deployed a total of 1,621 personnel from the police force and other government agencies during the event.