Manila Times/Makati
Mindanao officials welcomed the appointment of interior secretary Mar Roxas by President Benigno Aquino 3rd, but the chosen Liberal Party standard bearer was not given an assurance that he would get their full support at this time.
“Just like President Aquino, we see secretary Roxas as someone who has a heart for the Bangsamoro, someone who truly understands and supports our desires as a people, as a nation,” said Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) governor Mujiv Hataman.
He added that the Aquino administration supported ARMM through the implementation of various projects that “allowed the region to become what it is today: A failed experiment no more”.
“With this, we are confident that secretary Roxas will put the interest of the people in Mindanao among his priorities,” said Hataman.
On the other hand, Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte said the appointment of Roxas gives the Filipino people the opportunity to have more choices.
He also said Roxas, as the standard bearer of the Liberal Party, has the edge over the other presidential candidates because he has the logistics and machineries of the government.
However, he said he will never support Roxas because of justice Leila de Lima, who said she is considering running for senator under the Liberal Party.
De Lima and Duterte have been at odds with each other because of the cases of extrajudicial killings in Davao City and the alleged presence of the shadowy Davao Death Squad.
However, he also said that the next president should be “incorruptible, competent, and the passion to serve”.
Roxas, like the other would-be presidents, has “in a way” those qualities.
Zamboanga Cong. Celso Lobregat, a Laban ng Demo-kratikong Pilipino (LDP) stalwart, said he has no inclination yet who to support for president in next year’s presidential elections.
However, Lobregat said that option to support the presidential bid of Roxas, who is his friend, “is not closed.”
Lobregat said he will wait for the stand of the LDP “as a party” since they will just coalesce with another political party as they don’t have a presidential candidate.
With this, Duterte chooses to focus his sight on voters, by encouraging the electorate to carefully choose their candidates.
“The important question to ask is who will be able to improve the lives of the people for the next six years,” he said.
Ten months before the 2016 national and local polls in the country, the Masbate Advocate for Peace (MAP) expressed apprehension for possible bloody political exercise in the island province of Masbate.
Judge Igmedio Emilio F Camposano, chairman of MAP, a group of professionals, businessmen, lawyers and physicians working in private and government offices had a dialogue with chief superintendent Victor Deona on Sunday evening at Rendezvous Hotel and Restaurant in Masbate city.
The group expressed concern that the upcoming 2016 polls would be marred by violence, as four powerful politicians vying for gubernatorial post will be facing head on.
“It’s been 50 years that political violence has been going on in Masbate. Before, the PNP and Army were used by the politicians as goons. There are four personalities interested in the gubernatorial post all equipped with machinery,” said Camposano, presiding judge of municipal circuit trial court of Aroroy and Baleno.
“Today we’re apprehensive with the attitude in Masbate that whenever there are promising new leaders in the province and in the municipalities the so-called elimination or ‘purging’ of emerging leaders is being done along the way for the new generation of leaders not to thrive,” he told The Manila Times.
Currently, four personalities expressed their interest to run for the gubernatorial post such as former governor Antonio Kho, jailed governor Rizalina Llanete, who is currently facing a plunder suit implicated in Napoles multi-billion scam, former first district representative now San Fernando mayor Bong Bravo and acting governor Vicente Homer Revil of Liberal Party.
Camposano said that the worst case scenario in Masbate is that there would be more election-related violence like killing and proliferation of private armed groups to sow terror for political advantage.
Every election, Masbate province is placed under Commission on Elections control with the long history as a political hotspot because of the high incidence of election-related violence.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is amenable to moving the start of the campaign period for next year’s polls a month early.
If implemented, candidates for national positions will have 120 days to campaign instead of the usual 90 days.
The proposal was made by Comelec Commissioner Richard Lim during a public consultation yesterday.
Lim suggested that the campaign period start on January 10, 2016 instead of February 9. This would synchronise the beginning of the campaign period for candidates for national and local posts.
The Comelec official said adjusting the campaign period will serve as deterrent to “epal” candidates or those who use every opportunity to gain media mileage.
The filing for certificates of candidacy for the May 6, 2016 elections is scheduled from October 12 to 16, 2015.
Bartolome Sinocruz Jr, deputy executive director for operations (DEDO), said the campaign calendar will be finalised after consultations.
Manuel Mar Roxas
