Indigent folk and jeepney drivers from Barangay Sta. Lucia, who were earlier asked to join a pro-administration rally in Makati City by Ejercito’s camp, complained that they did not receive "proper compensation for their hard labor."
One resident, who requested anonymity, told The STAR that they joined the rally last Thursday after Ejercito’s coordinators promised that each participant would receive P150 while drivers ferrying them would be given P800.
"When the rally was over, we were only given P100. Those who received lunch rations were given a measly P20. That is not even enough for their fare to return home," he said.
The jeepney drivers, on the other hand, complained they were only paid P500, which was P300 short of the promised payment for their services.
"The P500 is not even enough for the fuel spent and the regular income we lost in going to Makati," one driver said.
Other sources claimed that some of Ejercito’s coordinators even took home some of the food rations intended for rally participants.
One resident said one of the coordinators is a brother of a barangay official, who has been moving heaven and earth to get a slot in the councilor slate of Ejercito’s team for the May polls.
"We won’t vote for Ejercito anymore because if we cannot trust his coordinators in simple activities like this, we cannot count on them in bigger rallies," he said.
However, most residents said they believe Ejercito is not even aware that some of his coordinators have been pocketing some of the rally funds.
Some of them have been joining the pro-Estrada rallies since the start of the impeachment trial at the Senate. Because of the coordinators unacceptable behavior, they are now having a hard time to convince the rally participants and other residents to join them in future rallies.
"Why should we join them when we realized that we were only used by these coordinators to advance their own interests and to earn money at our expense," the source added.