Did Asistio offer P15M to Caloocan councilor?

A Caloocan City councilor claimed yesterday he was offered millions of pesos to run as Rep. Luis Asistio’s vice mayor in the May elections.
Councilor Dennis Padilla said Vice Mayor Oscar Malapitan "courted" him to become Asistio’s running mate in May by offering him millions.

"Malapitan approached me several times a few weeks ago inside the session hall, and proposed up to P15 million for me to abandon the mayor’s party and switch to their side," Padilla said.

He claimed that he declined the offer because his loyalty belongs with Mayor Reynaldo Malonzo.

Asistio vehemently denied Padilla’s claim, saying he had no intention to get the latter as his running mate.

"Kahit P15,000 hindi ko babayaran yan. Ni hindi tumatayo sa session yan. Ano ito, comedy? Politics is a serious matter." Asistio said.

He also blamed Malonzo’s administration for the problems the city is currently facing.

"Caloocan is besieged with all kinds of predicaments because we have an actor (Malonzo), a comedian (Padilla), and even a basketball referee (Councilor Tito Varella) as public officials," Asistio said.

Malapitan also denied offering money to Padilla. He said that opposition Councilor Henry Cammayo will most probably still be Asistio’s running mate.

Malonzo viewed this alleged offer of Asistio as the congressman’s way to take administration councilors away from him.

"Now I know their way of persuading councilors to leave my party – he bribes them with money," Malonzo said. – Matthew Estabillo