Angeles rally for PPC bets denied permit

ANGELES CITY — A leader of a local coalition formed to oust former President Joseph Estrada has accused Mayor Carmelo Lazatin of "sabotaging" a rally to be attended here today by the 13 senatorial candidates of the People Power Coalition (PPC).

Lazatin denied yesterday a permit for the rally which the Coalition for the Ouster of Erap (CORE) plans to stage at 6 p.m. today at downtown Plaza Miranda.

CORE spokesman Alex Cauguiran said Lazatin instead announced that an "instant trade fair" will be held at the site up to midnight today.

"It’s pure sabotage by a man who, despite his being a member of the Lakas-NUCD, never lifted a finger to help oust Estrada. He showed up at EDSA only when President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was to take her oath of office there," Cauguiran said.

Lazatin confirmed that the city government will be using Plaza Miranda today, from 5 p.m. to midnight, for a tourism fair which will feature entertainment celebrities.

"I am not sabotaging the CORE (rally). The tourism fair was planned long ago, but it is only now that we are implementing it," Lazatin said.

"Besides, the CORE does not have a permit for its rally," he said, adding he is willing to give the group a permit for a rally at the Astro Park at the main gate of Clark Field.

Lazatin said the 13 PPC senatorial candidates will visit City Hall at 4 p.m. before a motorcade.

Re-electionist Lazatin, who was recently named official candidate of the Lakas-NUCD, admitted that he is being eased out by local Lakas-NUCD leaders who are reportedly supporting the bid of Barangay Cutcut chairman Robin Nepomuceno who bolted the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) to join the administration party.

Lazatin and Gov. Lito Lapid, Lakas-NUCD provincial chairman, have been at loggerheads following the mayor’s alleged failure to extend any support to Lapid during the short-lived Estrada administration.

Lapid had been the subject of Estrada’s ire and had been slapped with various administrative cases filed with the Office of the Ombudsman, after he did not support Estrada’s presidential bid in the 1998 elections.

Cauguiran said he would risk arrest and push through with plans to put up a stage at Plaza Miranda for today’s rally. He said many of the PPC senatorial candidates have confirmed their attendance at the rally.

"The rally is non-political and will be participated in by various local groups who supported EDSA II. It will also be a chance for them to hear the platforms of government of the senatorial candidates," Cauguiran said.

He said the rally would also be a chance for local groups under CORE to present to the senatorial bets their demand for the full operation of Clark as a premiere international airport.

For his part, Lazatin denied that he did not participate in EDSA II as well as other moves against the Estrada administration.

"I was there. I supported anti-Estrada moves, although my participation was underground," he said.

He said he is set to receive an award from Jaime Cardinal Sin on Wednesday for his role in the ouster of Estrada.

During Estrada’s impeachment trial, Lazatin refused to join calls for his ouster, pointing out that the Estrada government had implemented many projects in Angeles despite his (Lazatin’s) being with the Lakas-NUCD.

Lapid is now supporting the mayoral bid of Nepomuceno who was reportedly sworn into the Lakas-NUCD two weeks ago. Nepomuceno filed his certificate of candidacy last week.

Lakas-NUCD leaders here have proposed to the national party leadership that only one Lakas-NUCD mayoral candidate be allowed onstage during the party’s official campaign rallies here.