Not politically motivated

THERE is no truth to the rumor that the revocation of the permit to motorcade of the Aksyon Demokratiko led by presidential aspirant Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso in Caloocan City was politically motivated.

“We flatly deny insinuations that the revocation of the permit for motorcade of the Aksyon Demokratiko was politically motivated.” City Administrator Oliver Hernandez said in his statement.

Hernandez explained they received the party’s application for permit to hold a motorcade on February 24 through email by their coordinator and authorized representative, Mr. Carlo Religioso at almost 5pm and since the next day was a holiday, they were able to process the application and check for requirements only on the next working day, which was on Monday, February 28.

He said he prepared the necessary permit but held the release to first comply with their regular processes.

He added that all applications for permit for motorcade and political campaign rallies are coordinated with the Caloocan police, the DPSTM and the MMDA and since the party’s planned routes were mostly major roads, they are required to obtain authorization from the MMDA.

However, a check with the agency showed no application was filed by the political party for the motorcade and campaign rally. The MMDA also informed the city government of Caloocan that they cannot issue a permit for the activities in the absence of an application, which prompted Hernandez to cancel the permit that they have already prepared.

“On top of the absence of an application with the MMDA, the Aksyon Demokratiko’s activities violated the agency’s recently-issued guidelines that motorcades and caravans shall only be undertaken during weekends and holidays between 5 to 10 am. We have records to support my statement,” Hernandez said.

Earlier, rumors spread that the cancellation was politically motivated since Mayor Oscar “Oca” Malapitan and his son, Cong. Dale “Along” Malapitan expressed their support to presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and vice presidential candidate Sara Duterte-Carpio.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Edd Reyes