MANILA, Philippines - This is in response to Mr. Cito Beltran’s column entitled, “What we see when blind,” published in the July 27, 2011 edition of The Philippine STAR.
In his column, Mr. Beltran quoted “TV and radio programs” as saying Vice President Jejomar C. Binay “has been seen and is known to use ‘wang-wangs’ or police sirens in his convoy.”
We regret that the information cited by Mr. Beltran, which came from Solita Monsod, is incorrect.
While we admit that during the early part of last year a motorcycle escort — not the Vice President’s convoy — had used a siren, the said escort was immediately reprimanded. There has been no further incident of siren or ‘wang-wang’ use since then, by the escorts and most especially the Vice President’s convoy. Sadly, Ms. Monsod, for reasons only known to her, has been perpetuating this falsehood, along with other half-truths and outright lies, against the Vice President.
While he is entitled to the use of sirens — a fact that was cited by the President during his State of the Nation Address (SONA) and reported by Mr. Beltran — the Vice President fully supports the President’s policy against the use of sirens.