MANILA, Philippines — The city government of Makati has taken down the viral “Gil Tulog Avenue” street signs that were posted along Gil Puyat Avenue for a supposed advertising campaign.
In a statement yesterday, Mayor Abby Binay apologized to the family of the late Senate president Gil Puyat, adding that the request to change the street signs did not reach her office.
“I apologize to the public and to the family of the late Senate president Puyat. These signs have been taken down on my instruction,” Binay said.
“If the (request for a permit) went through me, it would have been immediately rejected,” she added.
Binay said that she had also reprimanded the city officials who issued the permit for the “glaring oversight.”
“The city officials who issued the permit should have exercised prudence. They should have been more thorough. They should have thought about the confusion this may have caused to motorists and commuters,” Binay said.
In a letter sent to Rappler posted on Facebook, Victor Puyat, a son of the late Senate president, slammed the advertising campaign.
“Our name is not to be violated, by reasons that are financial, political or otherwise,” part of the letter read.
The late Senate president’s great-granddaughter, Erika Puyat Lontok, also expressed her dismay with the advertising campaign on Facebook.
“Besmirching my late great-grandfather’s name to sell freaking melatonin is so disrespectful!” her post read.
Gil Puyat served as a senator from 1951 to 1972. He was the last Senate president before the elder Ferdinand Marcos shut down Congress and declared martial law.
Puyat died on March 23, 1980 at the age of 72. The avenue in Makati City was named after him.