The Quezon City local government slammed as “fake news” the claim of Anakalusugan Representative and mayoral aspirant Mike Defensor that it “blocked” an event for the tandem of Bongbong Marcos and Sara Duterte.

“This is a blatant example of fake news. The venue that their group requested for the event is not meant for such activities. Needless to say, however, an alternate venue was proposed and offered,” the local government said in a statement on Sunday.

The statement followed Defensor claiming in a radio program that he requested the use of the Quezon City Circle for the event, being a member of the “Uniteam” coalition backing Duterte and Marcos.

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Defensor said that his staffers found that the Quezon City Memorial Circle was vacant for the dates they asked, but then they were later told that it could not be used.

The Quezon City local government clarified that they did not approve Defensor’s request because ” it is not meant for such activities” and referred them to another venue within the city.

“We know that it is a time for politics now, but this kind of deception is not right whatever the time,” the local government said in Filipino.

In a statement released on Sunday afternoon, Defensor attempted to disprove Belmonte’s claim that the Quezon Memorial Circle was not meant for such activities, sending links to videos of the 2016 miting de avance of the Mar Roxas-Leni Robredo tandem, which took place at the park. Belmonte was vice mayor at the time.

Defensor is challenging incumbent mayor Belmonte for Quezon City’s mayoralty in 2022. Belmonte belongs to the local Serbisyo sa Bayan Party (SBP), which endorsed the Lacson-Sotto tandem. Defensor is running under Malayang Quezon City.

Quezon City has 1.3 million registered voters as of 2019. – Rappler.com