PASIG CITY, Philippines – Early in the evening of Wednesday, March 26, Sarah Discaya, who is running for mayor in Pasig, posted on Facebook explaining why her electoral slate, Team Kaya This, would not be holding its campaign kick-off rally along the city’s Caruncho Avenue on Friday afternoon, March 28.
Team Kaya This had requested permission from city hall to hold its sortie at Plaza Rizal, where it wouldn’t be in the way of vehicle traffic, Discaya said, but the permit they received stated the westbound lane of Caruncho Avenue, where the event would obstruct rush hour traffic.
So, the team decided to look for another venue.
“Hindi po namin nanaisin na maging abala at perwisyo para sa mga Pasigueño, dahil ang Team Kaya This ay narito para tumulong at magbigay ng solusyon sa iba’t-ibang problema sa ating mahal na siyudad ng Pasig,” Discaya said.
(We wouldn’t want to be a bother and inconvenience to Pasigueños, because Team Kaya This is here to help and provide solutions to our beloved city of Pasig’s different problems.)
Discaya’s post included a picture that contained the images of two documents. One was Team Kaya This’ request for a permit, dated February 24, 2025, stating its intention just as Discaya described in her post. The other was a “Special Permit for Event” from the Office of the City Administrator, notarized on March 13, 2025, placing Team Kaya This’ campaign kick-off event on Caruncho Avenue, westbound, Pasig Central Side – also appearing to bear out Discaya’s claim.
It would appear it was city hall that wanted to put the opponent slate’s sortie where it would inconvenience motorists and commuters. Potentially a bad look for Team Kaya This, hence the effort to explain its last-minute change in plans.
“Oh come on.” Vico Sotto, Pasig’s incumbent mayor, replied to Discaya’s post about an hour later.
It was Discaya’s team’s choice to move its event to Caruncho Avenue, Sotto said. Otherwise, “why do you have an application letter for Caruncho westbound? Doesn’t your barangay permit from Brgy. San Nicolas say the same? You even submitted a proposed traffic plan,” he added in Filipino.
“Kung magkukuwento na lang din kayo, ikuwento po ninyo nang buo. Dishonesty eh,” Sotto said.
(If you’re going to tell the story, tell the whole story. It’s dishonesty.)
He then pointed to his Facebook page’s MyDay/Story for the “receipts”.
True enough, Sotto’s Facebook Stories carried an image of a letter from Team Kaya This, dated March 6, 2025, requesting permission to hold a campaign kick-off event on Caruncho Avenue, westbound, Brgy. San Nicolas, on March 28, from 3pm to midnight.
It did include a page with a “Traffic Security Plan” addressed to the city’s Traffic and Parking Management Office. A third image showed a permit from Brgy. San Nicholas, also indicating the venue as the westbound lane of Caruncho Avenue.
Discaya’s post has gained at least 46,000 reactions as of this writing, of which at least 28,000 were “laugh”, and at least 9,600 were “heart” reactions.
Sotto’s comment has gained at least 47,000 reactions as of this writing, of which at least 33,000 were “heart”, and more than 9,900 were “like” reactions.
Discaya’s camp has yet to respond to Rappler’s request for comment as of this writing. We shall update this report as soon as we receive a response.
Air handshake
The next morning, Thursday, March 27, the city’s candidates for mayor, vice mayor, congressional representative, and city councilor assembled at the Sta. Clara de Montefalco church to sign a “Peace Covenant.” Led by the Commission on Elections (Comelec), the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting, the police, and the military, the event has in recent years become part of election tradition: having candidates swear in black and white and with their signatures that they would ensure integrity, honesty, peace, and safety during the election process.
Photos posted by the Pasig City Information Office showed a congenial event with the healthy attendance of most of the concerned candidates: Sotto’s Giting ng Pasig in blue shirts, Discaya’s Team Kaya This in red ones. The celebrities on either roster were on the front pews: Sotto and actress Angelu de Leon, running for reelection to the city council, on the blue side; former beauty queen Shamcey Supsup and actress Ara Mina, both running for city councilor, on the red side.
Reelectionist vice mayor Dodot Jaworski was in orange; reelectionist district representative Roman Romulo was in pink. Both are Sotto’s allies.
After signing their names on the covenant printed on a tarpaulin sheet, rivals took photos together: Romulo with his opponent, lawyer Ian Sia; Jaworski with his opponent Iyo Caruncho Bernardo.
But when Sotto’s photo op came up, it was a solo shot. Discaya did not attend the “Peace Covenant” signing. The slot for her signature remained blank. Sotto was photographed shaking hands with the air.
Rappler reached out to a representative of Discaya for comment on her absence. We shall update this story as soon as we receive a response.
‘Good governance’ vs. big business
Discaya, with her husband Pacifico “Curlee” Discaya, are the owners of St. Gerrard General Contractor and Development Corporation. It’s a construction company that has served as a private contractor for many national and local government projects, including in Pasig City.
Discaya has been holding charitable events, such as food distribution and medical missions, long before the official campaign period for local elections, set to begin on March 28. One of her platforms is the promise of big-ticket infrastructure projects: hospitals, housing complexes, transport terminals. Her guarantee, she has said during public speeches, is the fact that she owns a construction company.
She has criticized Sotto for focusing on “good governance” at the expense of “healthcare and education”.
In January 2024, a video that has since gone viral showed Sotto reprimanding an officer from St. Gerrard for proceeding with a building’s construction before a permit was secured. That October, Sotto officially notified the Comelec of the Discaya couple’s links to St. Timothy Construction Corporation, which was then part of a joint venture with the Korean company Miru Systems to provide automation technology for the 2025 elections. Sotto noted the conflict of interest in a candidate possibly having a business stake in the election’s technology provider. The Discayas said they had divested from St. Timothy, which later pulled out of the election venture.
Sotto’s “attacks” provoked the Discayas to run for public office, Curlee Discaya told ABS-CBN News in October.
Sotto is running for a third and final term as Pasig mayor. In his previous terms, he pushed for reforms that resulted in improvement in the city government’s finances, and in the efficiency of its social services. The US State Department honored him as an “anti-corruption champion” in 2021. – Rappler.com