DAVAO CITY—Anyone may stage a rally in the city even if they belong to another political party.
The camp of presidential candidate Mayor Rodrigo Duterte made the assertion following reports rival candidate Sen. Grace Poe and her running mate, Sen. Francis Escudero, had been barred from holding a campaign rally in this city.
On Friday, lawyer Lorna Kapunan, a senatorial candidate on Poe’s independent ticket, said she was on a plane to this city for a rally but the aircraft was diverted to Tacloban City.
“I was on the same flight this morning as the campaign organizers and I asked them why we were diverted to Tacloban and the answer was there was no issuance of permits,” Kapunan was quoted as saying in news reports.
Escudero said the Davao sortie did not push through because of changes in their campaign schedule.
But he said it was unfortunate if it was true that they were not given a permit to rally in Davao.
In a statement, Duterte’s spokesperson Peter Laviña said Poe’s camp had its organizers to blame for failing to secure a permit to hold a rally in this city.
Laviña said the allegation that Poe and Escudero were barred from conducting a rally here was baseless if not ridiculous.
“Their organizers are lazy. They did not do their job. That’s not our or the city government of Davao’s fault,” he said.
Permits in one day
He said those who wish to hold rallies in public parks here are required to pay only P150 for the electricity. They must also coordinate with the Traffic Management Center and Central 911 for standby emergency units.
Permits are usually processed in one day, Laviña added.
“We learned that there was an application, but it was not pursued. Hindi na bumalik ang nag-file. Tamad, napagod siguro o naghahanap ng rason. Kaninong kasalanan yan? (The one who filed it did not return. Maybe he was lazy, tired or looking for an excuse [not to file]. Whose fault is that?),” he said.
He said Davao City was known for respecting and tolerating groups that may want to exercise their freedom and use public spaces to protest and express grievances or political views or religious beliefs peacefully.
“It’s unfortunate the senator’s camp is twisting the facts, making it appear like a permit was not granted because of politics,” Laviña said.