Peña sees rival’s hand in Makati littering incident

THREE Makati residents were arrested on Sunday after they were caught scattering garbage in one of the city’s busy streets.

The incident, meanwhile, was described by Mayor Romulo “Kid” Peña as an attempt by his political rivals to “clearly sabotage” his name and administration.

“As to the motive of these people, I do not want to speculate but [all I know is that] my rivals in politics are trying to pin the garbage problem [on] my administration,” he said.

A report from the Makati police said that Jason Direro, 23; Emerson Grant, 18; and Romeo Sapurgo, 57; all residents of Barangay Olympia, were arrested around Sunday midnight for deliberately dumping garbage on Kalayaan Avenue corner J.B. Roxas Street, in the same barangay.

The police said that Sapurgo drove a truck carrying garbage bags filled with trash which Grant and Direro scattered on the road.

Case investigator SPO1 Wilfredo Alvarez said the three men refused to give an explanation for their actions or say who ordered them to do so.

Earlier, Peña’s rival for the mayoralty seat, Rep. Abigail

Binay, claimed that the garbage problem in the city had worsened.

Sought for comment, Binay’s spokesperson Joey Salgado described Peña’s statement as “a heap of garbage.”

“There is no need for anyone to portray him as a negligent and weak leader,” Salgado said in a text message. “The people of Makati know that he is one and that is why there is a clamor for the Binay kind of service and leadership,” he added.