Lito Atienza

Let's start with this one:

PONDO NG LUNETA RALLY IIMBESTIGAHAN

Kasabay ng pagkalat ng mga ulat na hindi lamang ang mga local government units (LGUs) sa Metro Manila ang gumastos sa pro-GMA rally sa Luneta kundi maging ang national government, balak na itong paimbestigahan ng mga militanteng kongresista.

Ayon kay Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teddy Casiño, ang paggastos ng mga Metro Manila mayors sa Luneta rally kahapon ay indikasyon na nagwawaldas ng pera ang gobyerno para lamang maipakita ng administrasyon sampu ng kaalyado ni Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo na matatag pa ito kahit lumulubog na sa kawalan ng kredibilidad.

Nakakalungkot, ayon kay Casiño, dahil sa halip na gamitin para sa kapakanan ng lahat ang pera ng bayan ay winawaldas lamang ito para sa show of force ng administrasyong Arroyo.

"Pinagbabayad tayo ng malaking buwis pero dito lang pala gagamitin ng mga lider natin para maipakita lamang ang kanilang suporta kay GMA," pahayag ng kongresista sa panayam ng TONITE.

Sinabi ni Casiño na kahit sariling pondo ng LGUs ang perang ginastos tulad ng advance pay sa insentibo ng mga empleyadong sapilitang pinadalo sa naturang rally ay hindi maikakailang pera pa rin ito ng taumbayan.

Mula, aniya, ito sa Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) ng mga mayors na inobligang magbitbit ng mga empleyado sa rally para magpakita ng suporta sa problemadong si Arroyo.

I say we start with the ringleader, the mayor of Manila and pro-Arroyo loyalist Lito Atienza, whose image (face) and name is painted all over Manila like a banana-republic dictator. It was in Luneta (teritoryo nya) where the rally was held.

Vasquez added high school students in Manila were required to attend yesterday's so-called “Gathering for Peace and Unity through the Rule of Law” as part of their National Service Training Program (NSTP).

She said even local government employees in Manila were also compelled to participate as per memorandum issued by Manila Mayor Lito Atienza, a known ally and staunch supporter of Mrs. Arroyo.

Vasquez added Atienza's order also compelled employees and students to sign an “attendance sheet” as proof of their participation in the rally.

“When we walked out of classes last Wednesday, we did so out of our own free will. We risked the consequences because we wanted to forge unity with the youth in calling for Mrs. Arroyo's immediate removal. But now we feel used and exploited,” she said.

Read this too.

Abalos and Manila Mayor Lito Atienza both denied that each person's attendance had a price tag.

"Whether you call it hakot (crowds for hire) or not is just how you perceive it,'' he said.

His city sent over at least 5,000 people "from my political base and that of Abalos,'' Gonzales said.

The number could have been bigger "had this been held at the Edsa Shrine'' in Mandaluyong, he stressed.

He said the city government, "as a matter of policy,'' simply asks for "volunteers'' on occasions like yesterday's.

"I will stake my name on it. There was no money involved,'' said Efren Agustin, chair of Barangay 607, Zone 61 in Sta. Mesa, Manila, when asked whether his constituents were offered any incentive to attend the rally.

But Agustin disclosed that Mayor Atienza, in an official communication, sent out "invitations'' to the different barangays. The invitation simply said that "those who want to can join.''

"Maybe they are just called hakot crowds because you literally had to transport them to get here,'' the village chief said.

As early as 8 a.m., however, the Inquirer received reports of payoffs being made for rally participants coming from as far as Pampanga and also from Marikina and Manila.

Going rate

The going rate was P500 per resident and up to P1,500 per government employee.

....

Required attendance

Several students from Manila and Quezon City, who did not wish to be identified, said they were required by their school officials to be present.

They said that they were also supplied with transportation allowance and packed lunches.

A female student from the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila was chided by her classmates when she told the Inquirer that they were required by their school officials to join the rally.

One of them said they were told not to talk to the media but that they voluntarily came to support the President.

An employee from the Manila City Hall claimed there was an order from the "higher-ups" for them to be at Rizal Park or their P2000 monthly allowance would be put on hold.

"I really wanted PGMA to resign but my job is at stake here," a 45-year-old mother of three said. "Aside from that, I wouldn't be able to get my allowance. My family needs that. I have no choice."

But Mayor Lito Atienza maintains his denials:

Manila Mayor Lito Atienza maintained in an Inquirer interview that "there's no funding involved whatsoever.''

Well see about that, Mr Atienza.

And withholding an employees's P2000 monthly allowance if he fails to show up at the pro-Arroyo rally????

isn't that errr..... B.L.A.C.K.M.A.I.L? Are you sure wala talagang pilitan dito? ;)