San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora on Friday, June 28, slammed Sen. JV Ejercito's allegations of leadership lapses of the mayor and his administration that resulted in the chaos during the conduct of "basaan" (water-dousing) that was part of the celebration of Wattah! Wattah! Festival.
Mayor Francis Zamora
During the filing of criminal charges against some unruly San Juan City residents by a delivery rider, Zamora said that these are isolated cases and that the senator should not say that such incidents did not happen before.
"Number one, these are isolated incidents at kahit naman po mga nakaraang administrasyon dito sa San Juan ay nangyayare po ito at alam naman nya yan. Hindi n'ya dapat sabihin na hindi yan nangyayare sa panahon ng mga dating mayors. Kaya nga po mayroong ordinansa na pinasa noong 2018, hindi pa po ako mayor n'yan, sapagkat 'yung mga nakasaad na mga hindi dapat gawin sa ordinansa na 'yun ay mga nangyayare na dati. In fact maduming tubig nga ginagamit dati. May mga nasasaktan, nagsusuntukan, nagrarambulan (Number one, these are isolated incidents that were also happening during the previous administrations here in San Juan and he knows it. Hence, he should not say that these were not occurring during the time of the past mayors. That's the reason why there is an ordinance passed in 2018, during that time I'm not yet a mayor, stating the do's and don't's during the festivity. In fact before, dirty water was used during the conduct of "basaan." There were cases of people getting hurt, engaging in fistfights and riots during the celebration)," Zamora said.
"Ang kaibahan lang ngayon eh through the advent of social media, mas naha-highlight na sya. That's the reality. I'm not denying na nangyare and I take full responsibility sa nangyare, ngunit nakikita naman po ngayon ng lahat na gumagawa kami ng hakbang upang maparusahan ang mga nanggulo, makasuhan sila at maturuan ng leksyon dahil hindi naman ito ang intensyon ng kapistahan (The only difference now is that through the advent of social media, these incidents are being much more highlighted than before. That's the reality. I'm not denying that these incidents did not happen and I take full responsibility. However, I would like to emphasize to the public that the city government is doing everything we can to punish those who were unruly during the event. We will make sure that they will be charged and they will learn their lesson because this is not the intention of the fiesta)," he added.
On June 28, Ejercito rejected the mayor’s allegations of sabotage during the festival, saying that he should stop looking for others to blame to cover up his lapses in the course of the event.
"Under my administration and Mayor (Guia) Gomez, there were hardly any incidents during fiesta. Everything was under control. Ngayon na lang ulit may gulo (It was just only recently that trouble happened),” Ejercito said when sought to comment on Zamora’s remarks.
"Nilagyan natin ng rules at parameters para hindi na mabalik sa dating magulo ang tradisyon ng basaan. Nilimitahan ang oras, ipinagbawal ang pagbasa sa mga passersby at mga papasok sa trabaho. Ginawan ng sariling tema, kanta, sayaw, at identity ang Fiesta upang maging mas organisado, kaaya-aya at higit sa lahat walang kaguluhan (We put rules and parameters so that the tradition doesn’t go back to the way it used to be. Time was limited, splashing water on passersby were strictly forbidden especially on those going to work. We created the fiesta's own theme, song, dance, and identity to make it more organized, vibrant, and most of all, peaceful)," he said.
As a former mayor who conceptualized the program, Ejercito said he is saddened by the latest development.
“Marahil ay nagkulang sa preparasyon at pagpapaalala. Dati ay pinahuhuli ko mismo ang mga nanggugulo at nambabasa sa mga papasok sa trabaho (Perhaps there was lack of preparation and reminders. I used to order our law enforcers to arrest those who are creating trouble and dousing water on those going to work),” the senator said.
“Nasayang ang diwa ng San Juan Fiesta. This is a failure of leadership! Ako man ay humihingi ng pasensya sa mga naperwisyo ng kapistahan (The spirit of San Juan Fiesta was wasted. I myself would like to apologize to those who were harmed during the festival),” he stressed.
For his part, Zamora clarified that he did not say there was indeed an act of sabotage during the festivities.
"Wala po akong sinasabing nagkaroon ng sabotahe. Ang sinabi ko posibleng magkaroon ng sabotahe, pero wala akong sinasabing nagkaroon ng sabotahe (I'm not saying that there was a confirmed act of sabotage during the event. What I said is sabotage could be possible)," the mayor noted, explaining that the Wattah! Wattah! Festival is open for everyone and not just for San Juaneños.
Basaan zone
To prevent a repeat of such incidents in the next celebration of the festival, Zamora said the city government will study the creation of a "basaan zone" which is an area designated by the local government unit (LGU) where the conduct of "basaan" can be done.
"We will do everything we can para hindi na ito mangyare ulit. We are now studying how to create a "basaan zone" possibly dito within the Pinaglabanan area only upang makaroon tayo ng isang lugar na dito lamang ang basaan na talagang pwedeng iwasan na ng ibang tao kung sakaling hindi naman sila dadaan ng San Juan para makipista (We will do everything we can so it would happen again. We are now studying how to create a "basaan zone" which could be possibly placed within the Pinaglabanan area only, for us to have a certain area where the water-dousing activity should only be held. This area could be avoided by those not going to San Juan to join the festivities)," Zamora said.
The local chief also called on those victimized by residents during the festivity to come to his office and file appropriate charges against the unruly San Juaneños. He assured the victims that the city government will assist them in the filing of complaints.