“SUYA Ra ang Probinsya” shirts will not be seen during the Sinulog grand parade, and there will be no more taunting of Capitol officials this Sunday, officials said.
Due to “adverse public reaction,” Cebu City officials decided not to push through with the plan to have some city employees wear shirts marked “Suya Ra ang Probinsya” in tomorrow’s parade.
Mayor Tomas Osmeña said his staff earlier asked him if he has South Road Properties (SRP) shirts that they can wear when they accompany the City Government’s float.
“They asked me if I still have SRP shirts. I said that’s the only T-shirt I have that is SRP. It says SRP and you really have to look down to read the fine print on what it stands for.
But anyway, they won’t wear it anymore because Filinvest will issue new T-shirts for those who are accompanying the float,” he explained yesterday.
For the first time, the City will have a float in the parade, which will feature the SRP and its landmarks.
SRP Management Office (SRP-MO) head Nagiel Bañacia earlier said the float is meant to market the reclaimed properties and to show the city that its people are the real owners of the property.
He also previously said that SRP-MO staff will be on the float wearing the “Suya Ra ang Probinysa” shirts.
For his part, City Administrator Francisco Fernandez said the officials changed their minds about the shirts because of the public reaction, especially those coming from other city officials.
Some city councilors reportedly did not like the idea of taunting Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia and other Capitol officials during a religious activity. They will also be performing
at the parade.
“We changed our mind because of the adverse public reaction. We realized that it was impulsive on our part, it’s really not appropriate for the occasion,” Fernandez
added.
Instead, the city employees will be wearing shirts with Filinvest Land Inc.’s (FLI) slogan.
FLI is the joint venture partner of the City Government in the development of a 40-hectare portion of the SRP.