BAGUIO CITY – The Baguio Flower Festival Foundation Inc. (BFFFI) on Wednesday said it is conducting a thorough investigation on the alleged violation of the “no political campaign” policy of the Panagbenga organizers for the whole duration of the month-long festivity.
Lawyer Mauricio Domogan, chairperson of the BFFFI, said during the “Kapihan sa Baguio” held on a makeshift stage along Session Road that they are “gathering the details, pieces of evidence as well as other information to give us a clear picture of what happened which made some parade participants violate the rules.”
He said that the heaviest penalty they can impose on violators is to ban their participation in future staging of the festival.
“All the participants were registered, permitted and allowed to join on condition that they follow the rules. They know we have rules so they were expected to respect our rules as we respect them,” he said.
Domogan said acts of campaigning such as getting off the float, shaking hands with the public, and giving away campaign materials were prohibited and such rule was reiterated several times to prevent violations.
BFFFI Executive Committee chairperson Anthony De Leon said they announced such policy as early as the festival’s launching on Jan. 6.
“How can we be enticed to vote for these candidates when they cannot follow simple rules and regulations and they continue to disregard such rules?” he said.
Frederico Alquiroz, BFFFI president, said some parade participants even wore shirts that carried the name and face of a politician.
“We asked them to remove or change their shirts or wear jackets to cover them and they initially complied but insisted on violating the rules. We will definitely act on such disregard,” he assured. **Liza Agoot
