Caloocan ‘raid’charge denied

Caloocan City Mayor Reynaldo Malonzo’s men denied yesterday raiding the City Schools Division building where sacks of rice donated by Rep. Luis "Baby" Asistio were stored, claiming they were only out to "clarify matters" that the rice did not come from the mayor’s office.

"My office received several calls from teachers informing us that sacks of rice were being distributed at the Division Office, so we went there to verify the report because we don’t want to be accused later of bribing the teachers," City Administrator Mamerto Manahan explained.

Manahan also denied the statement of Administration Officer Asuncion Manalo that he accused the public school teachers of "electioneering" for receiving the sacks of rice from Asistio, Malonzo’s bitter political nemesis.

Manalo assailed Manahan and secretary to the mayor Francisco Veza for allegedly raiding their office Thursday afternoon after they received some 800 sacks of rice from Asistio and for confronting them for using the building to store the rice.

Manahan, however, said that Manalo, who used to be the secretary of former Mayor Macario "Boy" Asistio, was just trying to reverse the situation knowing that as a public school official "she must do away with politics."

Manalo, on the other hand, claimed that Manahan’s charges were baseless, considering that the "elections are still far away."

Manahan also scored the timing of Asistio’s distribution of rice to the public school teachers, claiming it was highly questionable, since the teachers’ services are tapped during elections.

Veza for his part, said that Asistio’s rice distribution project could be illegal due to absence of coordination with the city government.

He explained that under the law, a congressman’s project must be properly coordinated with the city government before it is implemented. – Pete Laude