Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto on Tuesday, April 12, said that he just ignores those who are spreading fake news to derail his programs in the city as the May 2022 elections draw near.
Sotto shared this during one of his rounds in the city wherein a resident told him that someone was spreading fake news that he is about to demolish their residence.
"Habang naglalakad ako sa Santolan kahapon, maya't maya may nagsasabi sa kin, "May naninira sa 'yo rito, ipapa-demolish mo raw kami! (While I was walking along Santolan yesterday, someone told me "someone is spreading fake news that you're going to demolish our homes!),"
According to him, he didn't bother anymore to ask where the news came from as he believes that there are still people who are used to spreading fake news against their foes in the name of politics.
"Ang sabi ko na lang sa mga nagsumbong, "Hayaan niyo na. Basta, alam natin ang totoo" (I told them to just let it be. What matters the most is that we know the truth)," Sotto said.
The mayor explained that the city government is slowly fixing the decades-old problems in Pasig especially on land disputes.
"Naantala man ang mga meeting at public consultation dahil sa Covid, malaki pa rin ang progreso natin. Halimbawa, kamakailan lang ay napatituluhan na ng city government ang Lots 2 and 3 (Kaya wala nang pangamba at paguusapan na sa susunod ang pagbili nila ng lupa) (There might have been delays in the meetings and public consultations due to Covid, but we still made substantial progress. The city government recently issued titles to Lots 2 and 3)," Sotto said.
"Pero kailangan tapusin ang mga konsultasyon sa bawat lugar. Ang gusto natin, naiintindihan at nagugustuhan ng nakararaming residente ang mga plano ng gobyerno para sa kanila (But we still need to finish the consultation in each area. What we want is for the residents to understand what the government's plans are for them)," he added.
On April 3, Sotto announced to residents of Ismar Kalawaan that the lands where their homes have been built can now be theirs without any problems after the city government intervened between two opposing groups claiming that they are the legitimate owners of the 2.5 hectares of land which is home to around 700 families.
"Ang una nating ginawa ay namagitan tayo para mapagkaisa ang dalawang samahan na may malalim na alitan. Malabo kasing matuloy ang kahit anong kasunduan gaya ng CMP (Community Mortgage Program) kung dalawa ang nagki-claim na sila ang lehitimong samahan (What we first did was to intervene and unite the two groups who have been in conflict because it is very difficult to proceed with any agreements such as the CMP if there are two groups claiming to be the legitimate owners)," Sotto said.
"Pangalawa, pinag-aralan natin ang aspetong legal ng lupa, at nag-negotiate tayo sa may-ari para mabili na muna ito ng LGU. Para gobyerno na ang kausap ng mga residente. Nagkasundo na tayo ng may-ari at inihahanda na ang Deed of Sale (Second, we studied the legal aspects of the land wherein we negotiated with the owner of the land for the LGU to first purchase it. This has been done to streamline the negotiation process. The LGU and the owner have already reached an agreement and we are now readying the Deed of Sale)," he added.