Binay slams campaign to discredit Ayala rally

Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay of the United Opposition (Uno) has accused the national government of launching a campaign that seeks to discredit last Wednesday’s anti-Arroyo rally in Makati City.

The campaign, he claimed, involved the scattering of City Hall-issued cash coupons along Ayala Avenue to make it appear that rallyists could claim cash in exchange for their participation.

Binay also condemned the text messages circulating that he would be arrested.

He wento on to denounce press releases calling on the Ombudsman to act on complaints filed against him by a known political opponent.

Binay said the cash coupons, which entitles the bearer to P300 to be claimed at City Hall after the rally, as well as the text messages and press releases, were obviously orchestrated, but implemented in a sloppy manner.

"Gumawa sila ng coupons na nanggaling daw sa amin pero maling-mali naman. Hindi sulit ang ibinabayad sa kanila ng Malacañang," Binay said.

Binay said the coupons were clearly the work of amateurs since the coupon placed the office of the city administrator at the second floor of Municipal Hall. It is actually located at the 20th floor of the new City Hall building.

The coupon also had a fake City of Makati seal, which was obviously lifted from the Makati city government website, he said.

Binay said the coupons carried the name and cellular phone number of a certain Mercy, but upon checking, the contact number appeared to be spurious.

The mayor said bundles of coupons were found at the corner of Ayala and Paseo de Roxas. Several persons were also seen handing out the coupons in secret after the rally.

"This is an amateurish attempt to discredit the thousands who came to Ayala on their own, some of them even walking long distances, just to show their unity behind the movement to remove Mrs. Arroyo from Malacañang," Binay said.