No red carpet welcome for Binay in Roxas

Roxas City — Supporters of Vice President Jejomar Binay were not allowed to put up welcome streamers in this city for failing to secure a permit to do so.

Binay will be in Capiz on June 8 for a three-day visit to several provinces on Panay Island.

In an interview yesterday, Leodegario Labao Jr. said he went to the office of Roxas City Mayor Angel Alan Celino last week to seek permission to put up welcome streamers for Binay. Labao is a local contractor who is helping prepare for Binay’s visit in Capiz, home province of Binay’s bitter rival Transportation Secretary Manuel Araneta Roxas III.

According to Labao, Celino, who belongs to the Liberal Party, refused to allow welcome streamers to be put up since Binay’s purpose in his trip to Capiz was not related to his function as vice president but to form his local political machinery.

However, the mayor, in a separate interview, said he had not seen an application for a permit to put up the streamers.

Celino, a close ally of Roxas, said a 2010 city ordinance required the payment of fees for sign boards, billboards or advertisements that would be put up in public places in the city.

The mayor, who confirmed he met with Labao, said he informed Labao to apply for a permit in compliance with the ordinance.

Binay, who will meet with his Capiz supporters, will be accompanied by doctors, nurses and dentists for a medical-dental mission in Dao and Mambusao towns in Capiz.

Capiz is known as political turf of Roxas.

Binay had announced his intention to run for president in the 2016 elections and has been doing the rounds of the provinces in an apparent bid to build a machinery for his presidential campaign.

The vice president is scheduled to meet officials of Mambusao town, led by Mayor Jose Alba, and nongovernment organizations and groups of senior citizens. He is also scheduled to meet with officials of Dao town, led by Mayor Joselito Escutin.

Binay is also scheduled to inaugurate the newly completed Office of the Senior Citizens Association Center in Dao before proceeding to the component city of Passi in Iloilo province. /INQUIRER