Monday, December 03, 2007 Mayor hit for denying statements v. car plan By Rimaliza Opiña
BAGUIO Mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr. may be earning praises from the public for vetoing the car plan ordinance but not from the media whom he blamed for coming out with reports that he claimed were opinionated.
In a press conference last November 27, Bautista denied using the word "railroad" in describing the City Council's approval of the car plan ordinance.
"I deny that it came from me," Bautista declared.
But a review of the taped broadcast of the mayor's press briefing last November 22 showed Bautista mentioning the word “railroaded” and went on to explain that this was done when the council decided to call for a vote on the proposed ordinance's approval despite a motion for deferment.
A press release from the Public Information Office, which is under the mayor's office, likewise quoted Bautista as saying the word.
Portions of the press release entitled “Mayor: Car move solely council's handiwork’ stated he (Bautista) said he thinks the council went overboard in approving the plan as he accused the body of railroading the move when they hurried on to vote on the matter despite a motion to defer the same for a week."
"The mayor said before leaving for an official trip abroad, he asked the council to go slow on the car plan and instead approve the priority projects he had in line," Bautista said.
The mayor said he was disappointed upon learning that the council disregarded his suggestion and went on with the car plan.
Bautista's statements, aired live over DZEQ Radyo ng Bayan, were also reported by DZWT, Mountainview Cable TV, Baguio Midland Courier, Zigzag and ABS-CBN Northern Luzon.
But in his Tuesday briefing, Bautista claimed the word came from one member of the media who was then asking him a question.
Jonathan Llanes of NBN-4 was asking the mayor about procedures in legislation at that time but Llanes did not mention the word “railroad”.
Bautista said he finds it funny that the council is reacting over media reports that are "opinionated," and are based on hearsay.
One councilor, who learned about Bautista’s declaration from news reports, accused him of lying and said his denial of knowing the car plan was intended to gain “pogi” points.
But reporters, who reported about the mayor's declarations, resented the denial and the finger-pointing.
"The media had always been the scapegoat of many," said Malen Catajan of ZigZag and a long-time City Hall beat reporter.
