MANILA, Philippines – President Benigno Aquino III was interrupted in the middle of his speech yet again, this time in Iloilo where he was inaugurating new road projects.
While the President was speaking, 4 hecklers from a militant group started shouting at him. They were swiftly led out by the police.
Aquino thanked the hecklers, but Malacañang expressed dismay over the incident.
“The President always makes it a point to be accessible to the people and one of them is through events such as the one in Iloilo,” said Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda.
“It is regrettable when some people try to lower the public discourse by merely engaging in shouting matches.”
Iloilo is a bailiwick of the ruiling Liberal Party (LP). No less than Senate President and LP chairman Franklin Drilon hails from Iloilo.
This is the second time in recent weeks that Aquino was interrupted mid-speech at a public event in an LP bailiwick. His speech in Naga City on June 12, during Independence Day celebrations there, was also disrupted by a student.
The Philippine National Police (PNP) arrested the 19-year-old psychology major from Ateneo de Naga University, who was later charged for tumults and other disturbances of public order, and for assault upon an agent of a person in authority.
Various groups criticized the government for allowing the arrest and the filing of charges against the student, saying that what he did was within the realm of free expression.
Iloilo projects
Aquino was in Iloilo to inaugurate 4 bridges and a road widening project, inspect the Iloilo convention center and turn over housing units.
At the inauguration of the two-kilometer section of a road-widening project in barangay San Rafael, Aquino hailed the improvement of what will be called the Senator Benigno S. Aquino Jr Avenue.
He said once the whole project is over, the trip from Iloilo Esplanade to the airport will be cut from 45 minutes to 25 minutes. The President said this will also spur tourism in the province.
Other projects of the government in Iloilo include the conclusion of the repairs of Iloilo City-Jaro Road, the widening of Iloilo City-Tacas Road and Iloilo Coastal Road heading to Dumangas Port while two more tourism road projects are underway.
In August, the detailed engineering and design for Stage 2 of the Jalour River Multi Purpose Project – a large-scale reservoir dam – is expected to be finished.
Aquino also tuned over phase 1 of Iloilo River Plains Subdivision, measuring over 5 hectares. A total of 100 million pesos ($2.3 million) for the project was funded through the controversial and now defunct Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) of the Aquino administration, while 69 million pesos ($1.6 million) was taken from the 2011 General Appropriations Act o GAA. – Rappler.com
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