The Metro Manila Development Authority is set to file a case against the organizers of a protest rally that caused major traffic during rush hours on both lanes of Circumferential Road 5 (C-5 Road) in Taguig City on Thursday.
MMDA general manager Jose Arturo Garcia Jr. said the rally, conducted by supporters of losing Taguig mayoralty candidate Arnel Cerafica, caused heavy traffic in the area from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.
He said the people who joined the rally were protesting the results of the May 13 local elections in the city.
Carrying placards and posters, the protesters initially converged in front of Petron Gasoline Station near McKinley Road and later blocked both lanes of C-5 Road, claiming there was cheating and other irregularities that happened during the elections in the city, where three members of the Cayetano political clan won.
“If they are not satisfied with or against the results of the elections, there is the Comelec [Commission on Elections], a proper venue where they can file a protest, not there blocking both lanes of the road seeking public attention,” said Garcia.
The MMDA said the traffic jam along C-5 Road extended all the way to the South Luzon Expressway exit on the northbound side, and Julia Vargas Avenue on the southbound direction.
“There are a lot of people using that [C-5] road, not only residents of Taguig but also those coming to and from Makati, Cavite and Laguna. We will not tolerate this nuisance. Definitely, we will file a case against them,” Garcia said.
Garcia said he already asked officials of the MMDA’s legal department to prepare the legal action to be filed against the rally organizers.
Cerafica, the incumbent Taguig-Pateros congressman, ran against film and television director Edgardo Lino Cayetano in the mayoralty race who won by a wide margin.
Cayetano, also a former congressman in the city, is the younger brother of former Foreign Affairs secretary and now Taguig-Pateros representative-elect Alan Peter Cayetano.
Another family member incumbent Mayor Laarni Cayetano, who is on her third and final term as city chief executive, won to represent the second district of Taguig City in the House of Representatives.
Aside from Lino, Alan Peter and Laarni, incumbent Taguig City Rep. Pilar Juliana “Pia” Cayetano also won and is set to return as member of the Senate after getting the number 4 spot in the senatorial Magic 12 race.
In his official Facebook account, Lino Cayetano denounced his opponent for urging his followers to hold such kind of protest rally in the streets.