Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto debunked a claim by his mayoral rival, Sarah Discaya, regarding the change in venue for her campaign kickoff, saying that it was based on Discaya’s own request and was not a decision made by the local government.
Sotto said that the venue change was Discaya team’s own choice, pointing out that they had applied for the location, secured a barangay permit, and even submitted a traffic plan.
“Oh come on. Choice niyo pong lumipat sa Caruncho Ave. Kung biglaan o sapilitan ang inyong paglipat, bakit kayo may application letter para sa Caruncho Westbound? Diba yun din naman ang nakalagay sa Barangay permit niyo sa San Nicolas? At nag-submit pa kayo ng proposed traffic plan? (Oh come on. The decision to move to Caruncho Avenue was yours. If the change was sudden or unexpected, why do you have an application letter for Caruncho Westbound? Isn’t that also what’s stated in your Barangay permit from San Nicolas? Plus, you even submitted a proposed traffic plan),” he said.
As proof, the mayor released a “resibo” (receipt) showing Discaya team's request letter dated March 6, along with their barangay permit and traffic security plan, all of which listed Caruncho Avenue Westbound, Barangay San Nicolas, as their chosen venue for the upcoming kickoff event on March 28.
“Kung magkukuwento na lang din kayo, ikuwento po ninyo nang buo. Dishonesty eh (If you're going to tell the story, tell the whole story. This is dishonesty),” he said.
Sotto was reacting to Discaya's Facebook post, where she stated:
“Totoo po na ang Team Kaya This ay humingi ng permiso mula sa city hall para sa aming campaign kick-off sa darating na March 28, 2025. Kami po ay nagbigay ng aming request letter at ang aming hinihiling na venue ay para sa Plaza Rizal. Naaprubahan ang aming request at makikita sa Special Permit na ang ibinigay sa amin na venue ay sa Caruncho Avenue (It is true that Team Kaya This requested permission from the city hall for our campaign kickoff on March 28, 2025. We submitted our request letter, specifying Plaza Rizal as our preferred venue. Our request was approved, and as stated in the Special Permit, the venue granted to us was Caruncho Avenue).”
However, Discaya said they decided to postpone the kickoff event to avoid causing inconvenience to Pasigueños, claiming that the LGU, not their team, selected Caruncho Avenue as the alternative venue, which they believed would cause heavy traffic.
“Paglilinaw lang po, ang LGU po ang pumili ng alternatibong lugar, hindi ang Team Kaya This. Batid namin na makakadagdag ito sa traffic lalo na't ito ay araw ng Biyernes. Napagpasyahan namin na hindi na muna ituloy ang kick-off event na ito sa nasabing lugar (Just to clarify, it was the LGU that chose the alternative location, not Team Kaya This. We understand that this could worsen traffic, especially since it falls on a Friday. Because of this, we decided not to push through with the kickoff event at the said venue),” she said.
“Minarapat namin na humanap na muna ng ibang lugar para sa aming mga supporters. Hindi po namin nanaisin na maging abala at perwisyo para sa mga Pasigueño, dahil ang Team Kaya This ay narito para tumulong at magbigay ng solusyon sa iba't-ibang problema sa ating mahal na siyudad ng Pasig (We chose to look for a different venue for our supporters. We do not want to cause inconvenience to Pasigueños, as Team Kaya This is here to help and provide solutions to the various challenges in our beloved city of Pasig),” she added.
