Pasig Mayor Eusebio: I was not suspended or slapped by Duterte

Pasig City Mayor Robert Eusebio and wife Maribel Eusebio (in red shirts). (Photo taken from Maribel Eusebio’s Facebook page.)

MANILA — Do not believe everything you read, see and hear in social media, and more so, rumors passed on from one mouth to another.

This was emphasized early this week by Pasig City Mayor Robert Eusebio who strongly denied stories that President Rodrigo Duterte arrived on his motorbike at Pasig City days ago, personally went to him, removed his helmet and then slapped him.  Claims in social media sites alleged that Duterte castigated Eusebio for the rampant problem of illegal drugs in the city.

According to the comical Duterte tale, Eusebio even apologized to the President afterwards, saying ‘Sorry, sorry, Pasensya po.’ (Be patient with me.) The President  then sped away.

“I was surprised with the rumors. Impossible. This is not true. There’s nothing to defend because these weren’t true. There’s nothing wrong talking about this to finally put an end to this,” the mayor, speaking to reporters, said on Thursday.

Eusebio said he has not totally gotten used to hearing rumors. Some, he said, could be fine, like being criticized for being the last mayor to announce suspension of classes during typhoons. “Is it my work to announce class suspensions?” he said smiling.

But some criticisms, like personal attacks against his family, were really hurtful, he said. “I know I can’t please anybody.”

Apart from Duterte’s visit, there were rumors that Eusebio and Vice Mayor Iyo Caruncho Bernardo were suspended because of their failure to address the drug problem in the city. They were reportedly replaced by recently elected 1st District Councilor Vico Sotto, the son of top comedian and Eat Bulaga host Vic Sotto.

The rumors, which resembled the ones circulating in Muntinlupa City about its own local officials, have been spreading in Pasig City and were even relayed to media for verification by confused locals. The source, apparently, was still unknown.

The rumors about Duterte slapping Eusebio and Eusebio’s suspension over his alleged failure to curb illegal drugs in Pasig, reportedly started a week ago, on a Wednesday (July 27), when Eusebio and Councilor Rodrigo Asilo —  rumored to be ambushed on that day, too — were at the Heritage Hotel in Pasay City to receive awards from the National Nutrition Council.

Pasig City was awarded the Best Local Government Unit to have implemented the Barangay Nutrition Program Management and the Best LGU in Nutrition during Emergencies. Asilo’s Barangay Pinagbuhatan, meanwhile, won 2nd runner up in the Most Outstanding Barangay in Nutrition Program Management category.

Also, Eusebio was in a biking event last Sunday, and was distributing cash gifts to hundreds of scholars of the city board examinees the next day. On Tuesday, he and Senior Superintendent Romulo Sapitula, EPD director, launched the Padyak laban sa Droga (A Kick Against Drugs).  With his schedule packed and no scheduled visit from the President, Eusebio could not imagine how rumor mongers concocted their tale.

Text messages reached  Sotto — rumored to be the city’s new acting mayor —  congratulating him for his “recent appointment.”

“It’s disturbing. I and Mayor Eusebio have been in office for only a month, and there are already rumors like these. There’s no reason to believe the rumors. These are not true,” Sotto, an opposition councilor, said.

Sotto added that if the rumors that Eusebio and Vice Mayor Caruncho had been suspended were true, the legitimate successor would be Asilo — Pasig’s number 1 councilor when it came to votes gathered during the May 9 elections — and not him.

“These rumors are just speculations, which, when repeated, become a fact. Let’s just work, work for the betterment of the city, support the programs of the Mayor and stop spreading rumors,” Sotto said.

“These do not help but only destabilize,” he added. SFM/rga