LDP-PnM cries ‘political oppression’ in Bicol

NAGA CITY – The Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino-Pu—wersa ng Masa accused the Arroyo administration yesterday of political oppression for two problems besetting them in Camarines Sur.

Gov. Luis Villafuerte, LDP’s Bicol chairman, said Naga City Mayor Sulpicio Roco refused to grant them a permit for a rally yesterday, in violation of the Omnibus Election Code.

Villafuerte also alleged that the National Power Corp. cut off power in Iriga City where they had scheduled a grand rally.

The rallies in Naga and Iriga were participated in by all LDP local candidates in Camarines Sur, senatorial bets and deposed President Joseph Estrada.

Villafuerte said Roco, younger brother of Education Secretary Raul Roco, rejected their application for a rally at the Plaza Quezon last night in favor of the basketball tournament of an "unnamed youth group."

Roco, however, denied that there was anything political in upholding a prior rally permit.

With the rejection, the opposition decided to hold their rally in the smaller Plaza Rizal which Villafuerte said is actually a garden not suited for rallies because it does not have a stage. The LDP built a makeshift stage for the affair.

Villafuerte said he would file a case against Roco for violation of the Omnibus Election Code.

He also suspected that the power cut-off in Iriga was timed with the opposition’s grand rally last night. The Napocor, however, said the third district’s electric cooperative had failed to pay its arrears.

"Why today? Why not tomorrow, after our rally? The electric cooperative has been delinquent for three years," he said.