Bongbong Marcos camp apologizes over heavy traffic brought by caravan in QC

The camp of presidential aspirant Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. apologized to the public, especially motorists and traffic enforcers, who were affected by the caravan held in Quezon City on Wednesday morning.

In a statement, Marcos Jr's spokesman, Attorney Vic Rodriguez, said even the organizers of the motorcade did not expect the huge crowd that trooped to Commonwealth Avenue to join the caravan.

"Humihingi na rin ng paumanhin at pang-unawa ang BBM-Sara UniTeam sa mga motorista, byahero, pamahalaang lungsod at maging sa MMDA (Metropolitan Manila Development Authority) kung ang nasabing Unity Caravan ay nagdulot ng pagsikip sa daloy ng trapiko," Rodriguez said.

(We apologize and ask for understanding from motorists, travelers, the local government and even to the MMDA affected by the heavy traffic brought by our Unity Caravan.)

The Quezon City government earlier advised motorists to take alternative routes to avoid the heavy flow of traffic brought by the political event.

For those already on these roads, please take the nearest available road or U-Turn slot to exit and avoid the heavy traffic congestion.

— Quezon City Government (@QCGov) December 8, 2021

As of Wednesday noon, the Quezon City Police District estimated the crowd in the area to have reached more or less 6,000.

Vice presidential aspirant and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte joined Marcos Jr. in the motorcade that kicked off with a meet-and-greet event at the eastbound lane of Commonwealth Avenue, in front of the office of the Commission on Audit.

Wearing red and green shirts, the BBM-Sara supporters, including motorcycle riders, flocked to the highway to show unity for the political aspirants for Eleksyon 2022.

It was Anakulusugan party-list Representative Mike Defensor, who is running for Quezon City mayor, who spearheaded the grand caravan together with his running mate, Councilor Winnie Castelo, House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez, and Quezon City lawmakers Precious Castelo and Onyx Crisologo as well as former Quezon City Representative Bingbong Crisologo.

Marcos Jr's camp, meanwhile, expressed gratitude to the Quezon City local government for extending assistance during the caravan despite differences in political beliefs.

Marcos Jr. is the standard-bearer of the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas while his running-mate, Duterte, is the vice presidential aspirant of the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats, where she is the chairperson. —KG, GMA News