Amid reports claiming Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo Marañon, Jr. called for Moises Padilla Mayor Magdaleno Peña to “sit down” during the recent Philippine Sugarcane Industry Mechanization Expo at the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) compound in Bacolod City, the mayor said he did not hear the governor’s request.

“I did not hear the governor telling me to sit down as I was standing in front and I turned my back [to] him,” Peña explained in a release. “If I did, I would have approached him and pushed him to sit down on the floor of the SRA Auditorium, which I can do anytime I want.”

The mayor said he eventually sat down at the request of Department of Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol.

“Secretary Piñol told me to sit down, sensing that I was losing [my] temper,” he explained. “The governor should observe tactfulness next time.”

Peña also clarified statements made by the governor, who remarked President Rodrigo Duterte, who is supported by the mayor, did not win Moises Padilla during the 2016 presidential election.

“Indeed, President Duterte did not win in Moises Padilla,” he said.

The mayor claimed Marañon visited the municipality twice during the campaign period in opposition to both his and Duterte’s election bids.

“[Marañon] gathered all 4Ps (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program) beneficiaries for a forum, where he announced he would stop giving 4Ps [entitlements] to the 3,000 beneficiaries of Moises Padilla if they followed me or voted for me as their mayor and if they vote for Duterte as president,” he asserted.

Peña noted, however, “Duterte won overwhelmingly and ranked first in Pulupandan, my other town.”

The Moises Padilla mayor previously held the same position in Pulupandan, where his son, Miguel, is the current mayor./WDJ