  In the first order form, the model considered by Strobl presents, besides
local Lorentz and diffeomorphism invariances, an additional local non-linear
symmetry. When the model is realized as a Poincar\'e gauge theory according to
the procedure outlined in Refs.[1,2], the generators of the non-linear symmetry
are responsible for the ``nasty constraint algebra''. We show that not only the
Poincar\'e gauge theoretic formulation of the model is not the cause of the
emerging of the undesirable constraint algebra, but actually allows to overcome
the problem. In fact one can fix the additional symmetry without breaking the
Poincar\'e gauge symmetry and the diffeomorphisms, so that, after a preliminary
Dirac procedure, the remaining constraints uniquely satisfy the Poincar\'e
algebra. After the additional symmetry is fixed, the equations of motion are
unaltered. The objections to our method raised by Strobl in Ref.[3] are then
immaterial. Some minor points put forward in Ref.[3] are also discussed.
