Noy hopes popularity will rub off on Mar

MANILA, Philippines – With his latest approval ratings still at respectable levels, President Aquino said he hopes his popularity will rub off on his chosen successor and propel the latter to victory in the elections.

This has been Aquino’s message to the public in the past days as he cited the need for reforms and development to continue and take root under Manuel Roxas II.

“You gave me your trust in 2010, I hope to get the same today,” Aquino, chairman of the ruling Liberal Party, told the crowd in Filipino during the inauguration of the Mianay-Duyoc-Calaan-Panitan road in Capiz last Tuesday.

In another event in nearby Iloilo province, Aquino recalled how he endured being the “punching bag” of other candidates when he was running for president in 2010.

It is the same experience Roxas is going through as the May 9 elections draw nearer, Aquino said.

“During those times when they were ganging up on me, someone came to console me with the saying: only trees heavy with fruit get stoned. That’s the situation of the one I’m endorsing, Mar Roxas,” he said in Filipino. 

It was not surprising, he said, that he got 60 percent popularity ratings in September 2009 – a month after the death of his mother, democracy icon Corazon Aquino. But this, he said, made his political foes more determined to destroy his image.

He boasted that he got an overwhelming 80 percent trust rating in a Pulse Asia survey in 2012, and 55 percent approval rating – and only 15 percent disapproval – in 2015.

Aquino maintained a majority of Filipinos still trust him even if he is in the final months of his term.

In pushing for Roxas, the President said the former interior chief stood out among presidential contenders as the only one who sacrificed his presidential ambition in 2010.

In 2009, Roxas said he agreed to run as Aquino’s running mate – instead of as LP standard bearer – to keep the nation united.

The President also sought the help of barangay leaders yesterday to make sure reforms under daang matuwid become permanent, particularly on budgeting.

He reminded village officials at the Liga ng mga Barangay sa Pilipinas and Forum on Bottom-up Budgeting (BuB) of the importance of their job, being the closest public officials to the people.

Aquino said the government’s budgeting system was meant to involve local leaders and the grassroots.

Under BuB, Aquino said communities and civil society organizations would meet and come up with appropriate recommendations to address their problems.

“My belief as Chief Executive: the ones who have genuine experience and reasonable suggestions to correct what is wrong must be listened to,” Aquino said.

P1K for each Filipino

Roxas, for his part, vowed to allocate P1,000 for each Filipino under the BuB program if he wins the presidency in the May elections.

He made the commitment in his speech at the League of Municipalities of the Philippines general assembly at the Marriott Hotel in Pasay City last Wednesday.

“The Filipino population is now 100 million and I found money in the budget so 100 million people times P1,000 equals P100 billion. That amount we will distribute to all cities and municipalities through the BuB process,” Roxas said.

He said the previous BuB allocations totaled only around P22 billion.

He said for example, Isulan, Sultan Kudarat has a population of about 93,000. Under his version of the BuB, Isulan will receive an additional P93 million for anti-poverty projects for one year or a total of P540 million in six years.

Roxas said the program ensures that each of the country’s 1,490 cities and municipalities will attain a “minimum level of development.”

His runningmate Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo said the welfare and rights of women and children would be among her top priorities.

She said until now Filipino women and children remain the most vulnerable to abuse and other forms of human rights violations as well as illnesses and lack of opportunities for education and employment.        

Robredo, a lawyer, said she has been working pro-bono for the promotion of women’s rights, protection of children as well as livelihood programs for the poor long before she entered government service as Camarines Sur representative in Congress in 2013.

“While immersing myself in my work among my constituency one day, I saw a classroom in one of the poorest barangays in my district with 38 students but only nine chairs. I saw a piece of cartolina plastered on the wall of that classroom where the teacher wrote down a schedule of which child can sit on Monday, on Tuesday and so forth,” Robredo said.

“It was a scene that was terribly painful to see. Many of us gather from time to time and talk of where we think our country is heading and where we are now in our fight for freedom. I wonder how relevant this question is to those little children who do not have the privilege of having a chair to sit on every day in class,” she said.

Now his own man

Meanwhile, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., the LP campaign manager, said the Roxas-Robredo campaign was off to a good start, with the LP standard bearer now no longer perceived as an Aquino clone.

“Before Mar was seen as not being his own man, a clone of P-Noy. But now, people are seeing him for who he is, his track record and what he can offer to the country,” Belmonte said.

He said he was unfazed by Roxas’ ranking in past presidential surveys as the latter’s ratings have been going up in the past several months. “It’s the trajectory that’s important,” he said.

Roxas is also being hit for his lackluster performance at the Department of Transportation and Communications and the Department of the Interior and Local Government, which he had led before he decided to run for president.

Belmonte, however, said Roxas’ messaging in the campaign has greatly improved and has been helping tilt voter preference to him.

Without naming names, Belmonte also hit Roxas’ rivals, whom he said reacted negatively to his television advertisement where the LP standard bearer vowed not to steal public funds.

“Why do they feel alluded to? He was just saying that he’s not a thief, and he’ll not steal,” Belmonte said.

Senatorial candidates of the LP-led Daang Matuwid coalition have also downplayed perceptions that Roxas has an image problem.

Sen. Ralph Recto said while Roxas is not leading in the polls, he believes that 35 percent of the voters “can still change their minds.”

“So this campaign is very fluid and volatile. I think what’s important is to convey to the people what he can do for our country if elected,” Recto told reporters.

The LP presidential bet started his campaign in Roxas City on Tuesday.

From Roxas City, Roxas and Robredo motored to Iloilo City for another rally with their senatorial candidates.

He returned to Manila on Wednesday where he spoke before the LMP.

This morning, Roxas and Robredo will be in Ragay, Camarines Sur – her home province – to kick off a series of sorties heading toward Masbate and Albay until Sunday.

Camarines Sur is said to be a stronghold of Roxas’ rival, Sen. Grace Poe. Its governor, Miguel Luis Villafuerte, and Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. are backing Poe.

Former Camarines Sur governor Luis Villafuerte – the incumbent governor’s grandfather – is supporting Vice President Jejomar Binay’s presidential bid.

For Ifugao lawmaker Teodoro Baguilat Jr., the provinces under the Cordillera Administrative Region (CA) are likely to choose the Roxas-Robredo tandem in the May polls. “In politics, it is not wise to guarantee victory, but I believe we have a stronger chance of wining in the region than the other parties,” Baguilat, LP regional chairman, said. – With Paolo Romero, Aurea Calica, Artemio Dumlao