CADIZ City Mayor Salvador Escalante Jr. said there is a move at the City Council to pass an ordinance to include smothering (lamhitanay) in its annual Dinagsa Festival.
"That's practically the spirit, which is the very essence of Sto. Niño using black coal," Escalante said.
Smothering has made a trademark in the city's Dinagsa Festival.
Escalante said that during the festival highlights on Sunday, January 31, 2023, about half a million revelers and merry makers trooped to the city and enjoyed the lamhitanay.
"No one was spared of it, even vehicles," Escalante said.
Meanwhile, on a video that went virual on social media and which showed former Commission on Elections commissioner Rowena Guanzon, Escalante said he has already instructed the police to do what is necessary.
"I've heard there will be a case to be filed. That's social media. The incident was very untoward," he said.
Guanzon, in an interview with Capitol media Wednesday, February 1, is threatening legal action against the individuals who have posted the viral video on social media during the Dinagsa Festival.
In the video uploaded by a certain "Cyn Thia," Guanzon could be seen confronting a man and poking him with her walking stick.
Guanzon said that prior to the incident, her niece was ganged up by several individuals and was sexually harassed.
She and her group immediately went to her niece's location to rescue her.
Upon reaching a street nearby, she saw several individuals drinking heavily, she said.
Guanzon said she asked the individuals to give way, but instead, one of them started shouting, hit her in the shoulder, and stepped on her left leg.
The former Comelec official said the group was clearly inebriated at the time, and she was only using her walking cane to protect herself and for the man in the video to distance himself.