Makati mayor orders removal of 'Gil Tulog' street signs

MANILA, Philippines — Makati Mayor Abby Binay issued a public apology on Friday over the controversial street signs that renamed Gil Puyat Avenue to "Gil Tulog Avenue" as part of an advertising campaign.

In a statement posted on the city government's Facebook page, Binay said she has ordered the signs taken down.

The permit request for the sign change never reached her office, she said. "Kung dumaan sa akin 'yan, rejected 'yan agad (If those were consulted with me, I'd outrightly reject them)," she added.

The mayor reprimanded city officials who granted the permit, stating they "should have exercised prudence" and "should have been more thorough."

"Dapat inisip ang kaguluhan na maaaring idulot sa mga motorista at komyuter," Binay said. "At dapat ay binigyang halaga ang respeto sa pamilya at sa alaala ni dating Senate President Gil Puyat."

Photos and videos of the altered street signs, apparently part of a marketing campaign for a sleep supplement brand, went viral on social media on Thursday. The move drew mixed reactions, with some finding humor in it while others deemed it disrespectful to the late senator.

Binay apologized to the public and the Puyat family for the incident. "Humihingi ako ng paumanhin sa ating mga kababayan at sa pamilya ni dating Senate President Puyat. These signs have been taken down on my instruction," she said.

Gil Puyat served as a Philippine senator from 1951 to 1973 and was Senate president for six years before passing away in 1980. The major thoroughfare in Makati was named in his honor. — reports from John Marwin Elao