Duterte told: Tone down miting de avance
The tough- talking Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte should moderate his speech for his miting de avance at Rizal Park on May 7, the last day of the campaign period, an official said yesterday.
The miting de avance of the Alyansang Duterte-Bagatsing and the Kabalikat ng Bayan sa Kaunlaran Foundation (KABAKA) will be held at the Burnham Green section of the park from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., National Parks and Development Committee permits section head Flor Buclatin said. The NPDC runs and maintains Rizal Park.
Buclatin told The STAR they will ask the organizers of the political rally to ask speakers not to badmouth other people during their speeches as well as follow other regulations such as no smoking, no liquor, no selling and no cooking of food.
The 71-year-old mayor, the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino- Lakas ng Bayan’s presidential candidate, is known to verbally attack and criticize his opponents in the race.
Buclatin, however, said they will ask the speakers “to talk only about their political platforms and not to issue negative remarks or make verbal attacks during their speeches because we want to preserve the peace and order in the park.”
She added that even if the political rally’s organizers made reservations for the park’s Burnham Green section, they should also remember that Rizal Park is a public park and parkgoers who support other candidates might get into fights with Duterte’s supporters and this could lead to riots.
Buclatin warned that if the speakers repeatedly violate the rule against badmouthing others, park authorities may end the program.
The organizers of the political rally are reportedly expecting 200,000 people to attend.
Manila Rep. Amado Bagatsing, who is the Manila mayoral candidate of the local party KABAKA, wondered why the park would impose such restrictions on a miting de avance.
Bagatsing said since the event is “a political meeting, it is expected that candidates, and not only Mayor Duterte, would attack their rivals. This is part of their showmanship.”