Lexter Castro, known in social media as "Boy Dila," who earned the ire of the public for dousing a motorcycle rider with water during the conduct of "basaan" in celebration of Wattah! Wattah! Festival on June 24, met with the rider at the San Juan City Hall to personally ask for forgiveness from the latter.
(Photo from Mayor Francis Zamora)
San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora witnessed the meeting of Castro and the rider at his office on Friday, July 5.
"Noong nagbigay si Lexter Castro ng public apology, binanggit niya na gusto niya sana makaharap 'yung rider na binasa niya upang makahingi siya ng paumanhin ng personal. Kaya atin pong hinikayat andgrider na pumunta sa San Juan City Hall para ito ay ating maisakatuparan (When Lexter Castro issued a public apology for the incident, he said that he wanted to personally meet the rider he doused with water to ask for his forgiveness. Hence, we encouraged the rider to go to San Juan City Hall to achieve his wish)," Zamora said.
"Kahapon, pumunta na po si manong rider sa aming tanggpan at ngayon araw po ay nakapagharap na sila ni Lexter sa ating opisina. Humingi si Lexter ng paumanhin kay manong rider at hinandugan niya ito ng helmet at kapote. Tinanggap ni manong rider ang paumanhin at pinatawad niya si Lexter sa mga nagawa nito sa kanya (Yesterday, the rider went to our office and today, the two of them have finally met. Lexter asked for forgiveness from the rider and gave him a helmet and raincoat. The rider accepted Castro's plea and forgave him for what he has done to him)," he added.
The mayor noted that the incident should remain as a lesson for everyone to give each other respect and to refrain from doing things that could hurt other people physically or emotionally.
This year's Wattah! Wattah! Festival was marred with controversy following reports and viral videos and photos of unruly San Juaneños harassing and dousing water on individuals despite their pleas.
To prevent the incident from occurring again, Zamora said the city government will amend its ordinance regarding the festivity.
"We will amend our existing ordinance kasi 2018 ordinance po yan, hindi pa po ako mayor n'yan, and base nga sa mga nangyari nitong mga nakaraang araw dahil sa aming kapistahan, we will amend the ordinance to include all other violations tulad nitong nangyari sa mga nakamotor. 'Yan po ay i-aamend natin. Meron kasing loopholes 'yung existing ordinance and I recognize that (We will amend our existing ordinance that was created in 2018, the time when I was not yet a mayor, because of the incidents that occurred during the festivities. We will amend the ordinance to also include all other violations such as the dousing of water on motorcycle riders. There are loopholes in the existing ordinance and I recognize that)," Zamora said.
"We will strengthen it and maximize all possible penalties dahil nga may limitation din po kasi ang city ordinance. Hanggang P5,000 lang talaga 'yan at 'yan po ay nasa ilalim ng Local Government Code. Gustuhin man natin taasan po ang multa, eh may limitasyon base po sa batas. Kaya mas mabuti nang Revised Penal Code ang gamitin dahil dyan, pwede talaga sila makulong (We will strengthen it (2018 ordinance) and maximize all possible penalties because of its limitations. Even if we want to increase the amount of penalty, the Local Government Code limits the value of city ordinance penalties to a maximum of P5,000 only. Hence, I urge those who would like to file charges against unruly residents during the fiesta to use the Revised Penal Code so that they may be put to jail)," he added.
"Inannounce ko na din po na magkakaroon tayo ng "basaan zone" sa susunod nating kapistahan dito sa Pinaglabanan road (I have also announced that we will have a "basaan zone" in the next celebration of the festival here in Pinaglabanan road)," Zamora noted, adding that its creation would allow the city government to have a certain area where the water-dousing activity should only be held.
This area could be avoided by those who are not joining the festivities.
"Babawi tayo, babawi ang San Juan. Yes, nangyari na po ito. Unfortunately, dahil sa ilang mga tao, ay nagkaroon tayo ng ganitong kaguluhan at nakasira sa aming reputasyon at imahe. Ngunit sinabi ko na babawi tayo as a city. We will show everyone that we will make up for this and we will do better next time (We, in the city government and the whole city of San Juan, will make up for this. Yes, the incidents have already happened and we cannot take it back anymore. Unfortunately, the image and reputation of the city and its residents have been tarnished due to some unruly people. But I assure everyone that we, as a city, will recover from it. We will show everyone that we will make up for this and we will do better next time)," the mayor noted.