In 10 days, the UDP will have its Caribbean Shores Convention. As the ads on this newscast will tell you, the various camps are running energetic, savvy campaigns.
But not only television ads, there are also plenty of banners on the street - as all the campaigns have put up street-wide banners and billboards.
But last night, the Santino Castillo's banners were sliced up and shredded by forces unknown. We spoke to him at his Baymen Avenue home this morning, where he gave us his theory on who did it and why:..
Santino Castillo, Three Banners Shredded "Actually when my cyclist came to pick me up to go ride at 5 o'clock he told me chief, they cut your sign on the fence and this is what I encountered. later as we were leaving a man told me it's not only that one Mr. Santi, the one at K Park got cut down as well and when I was passing plaza I saw that one has been cut. And as you can see this is a neat cut, like with a scissors, straight across."
Jules Vasquez
"Now, who do you think is responsible for this?"
Santino Castillo, Three Banners Shredded
"Boy Jules anybody could be responsible but I certainly do not believe it would Chandra Cansino's camp or Ann Marie's camp. I will clearly give them the benefit of the doubt. I mean maybe they have some individuals that might behave that way but we all agreed to clean campaign and I continue to say let's run a clean campaign. So I don't think it's them I more want to believe it may be my PUP opponents' people."
Jules Vasquez
"It doesn't really add up because you aren't really running against Anthony Mahler."
Santino Castillo, Three Banners Shredded
"Well no but maybe they have a feeling that I maybe the victorious one and for that reason, maybe intimidated. Already we had two incidents with him, one where he tore up one of my flyers when my campaigners was in his area. One of my captain told him that he should not behave that way and on Sunday night we were at the Leal's', at a barbeque with the Leal's' and they were campaigning for the PUP slate and I thought the proper thing would have been to miss that house but they came in and I shook their hands, I was a gentleman, because Jules you know me for the past 30 years, I am a sports man and I know how to win and I know how to lose so, this doesn't faze me at all."
Jules Vasquez
"How do you feel about it?"
Santino Castillo, Three Banners Shredded
"It motivates me more Jules, I will leave them this way, and I will not replace them. The message has already been sent, everybody has seen my signs."
"In 1993, I made that mistake, I put up about one hundred banners and signs at San Pedro against Glenn Godfrey and they were all cut down and I went and made the mistake and remake them and put them up and they cut them down again, so I am not going down that road again Jules, I will leave them just like this."
PUP Caribbean Shores Standard Bearer Anthony Mahler today denied Santino's allegations. He said he has no time to waste with them and that he is busy doing his own divisional work.
He did concede, though, that one of Castillo's campaigners handed him a flyer but he says he crumpled it up; he didn't tear it up.
