Taclobanon faithful against ‘blasphemous’ rallies: Romualdez

The Taclobanon faithful would rather celebrate the feast of Santo Niño de Tacloban than welcome blasphemous protests such as the ones perpetrated by some Maisug rallyists.

Tacloban City Mayor Alfred S. Romualdez said these protesters should focus on other matters as their protests would not even solve pressing issues.

“They’re celebrating the Feast Day of Santo Niño. There are many religious people here. People are also afraid of it. There is cursing, the words are not good. They don't want that," Romualdez said in a radio interview.

"It is not fixed on the street. When there is a problem, we talk. We are simple people in Tacloban, what can we do?" he added.

Meantime, Tingog Partylist Representative Jude Acidre agreed with the Taclobanon faithful.

"Please don't use this method to be rude. I think there are more cheap ones (their earlier rallies). I don't hear any prayers," said the lawmaker.

For his part, Romualdez also slammed Maisug rallyists for compelling people to go outside when a typhoon was striking the country, stressing that the local government was just protecting citizens.

"Don't do that. Why send people out if it's raining? Then when something happens, of course we will be answerable to that too," the local chief executive said.

"I just ask them, here in Tacloban, at the height of Yolanda, Yolanda is over, we really discourage rallies as it solves nothing," said Romualdez.

The mayor also refuted the former President’s “absurd” claims that the local government was restricting flights to Tacloban to stop Maisug rallyists from coming in.

“Yung airport po namin under repair, kaya walang lumilipad sa gabi. Kaya punong puno yan sa araw," Romualdez said.

"When May comes, when June comes, there are really many festivals here. Fares are really high, it's hard to book a flight," he added.