Despite hitting several snags, the much-anticipated Hakbang ng Maisug prayer rally at the Davao del Norte Sports and Tourism Complex in Mankilam, Tagum City pushed through on Sunday.
The rally hadn’t even started but there were reports of a power outage, temporary closure of the Davao International Airport (DIA) runway, and withdrawal of the military from the venue of the rally.
At 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, the Northern Davao Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Nordeco) issued an advisory that the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) Tagum line tripped off and a line survey was conducted by the NGCP crew.
The affected areas were the whole area of Tagum City and a portion of Maco (Pangi, Hijo, Dumlan, Lapu-lapu, and Libay-libay).
Nordeco clarified that the interruption was not intentional and was beyond its control.
On the reports of the DIA’s runway closure, general manager Rex Obcena said that there is an existing 4-hour airport runway closure from 12:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m. everyday that started on April 8, 2024 until May 31, which is part of its scheduled maintenance.
Meanwhile, there were rumors that circulated online claiming that Secretary Leo Tereso Magno, presidential assistant for Eastern Mindanao, reportedly gave an order to pull out military forces from the rally site hours before it started.
Philippine Army’s 10th Infantry Division commander Major General Allan Hambala denied having been ordered by Magno to pull out his troops in the Davao del Norte Sports and Tourism Complex.
Hambala said that he decided to reposition his troops to the second and third layer of the security plan and not upon the order or request of Magno as rumored.
Hambala said his men are not supposed to be near the rally as it is the police who are mandated to implement crowd control at the same time secure the attendees.
He said he decided to reposition his men upon inspection of the area.
Lorraine Marie T. Badoy, an anchor of SMNI, corrected her earlier post saying it was not true that Magno ordered the pullout of the army.
“The earlier report was relayed to us by the army but what they meant was army band. And sir Leo did so out of security concerns. Mea culpa,” she said.
It was the third Hakbang ng Maisug prayer rally organized in opposition to the People’s Initiative (PI).
