Mar Roxas unfazed by INC's endorsement of Duterte

NAGA CITY, Camarines Sur – Liberal Party (LP) presidential candidate Manuel Roxas II is unfazed by the endorsement of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte by the bloc-voting Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) even as he vowed to continue the fight for decent governance.

 

Despite failing to get the support of the religious group, Roxas thanked the INC for giving him the opportunity to present his platform.

 

“We thank the INC for considering us and for studying our platform. While the INC did not choose us, we thank them for allowing us to tell our supporters that we will continue our fight,” Roxas said in an interview in Legazpi City Thursday.

 

“Now more than ever, it shows the fight between Duterte-Marcos and Roxas-Robredo,” he added.

 

The INC, which is said to be capable of delivering 2 million votes, has endorsed the candidacy of Roxas’s rival Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and vice presidential bet Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

 

RELATED: It's Duterte-Marcos for Iglesia ni Cristo

 

Roxas and his running mate Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo met with INC leaders at least twice to seek their support and to present their platform. The first meeting was held on March 30 while the second one happened last April 19.

 

Roxas likened Duterte to Marcos’s father, the late strongman and former president Ferdinand Marcos.

 

“In 1965, when President Marcos assumed as president, the Philippines is second in Asia in terms of development and wealth. In 1985, the Philippines went bankrupt,” Roxas said.

 

“These are the same traits that Mayor Duterte is showing. He has an iron fist, he resorts to violence and insults. He thinks he alone is right. He thinks he alone can think, that he alone can decide for the country,” he added.

 

Roxas also criticized Duterte for his alleged hidden wealth and his supposed plan to abolish Congress, the Commission on Audit, and the Ombudsman.

 

READ: Front-runner Duterte ‘deserves close scrutiny,’ MBC chairman says Primary tabs

 

“That means, we will return to Martial Law,” the LP standard bearer said.

 

Early this week, Roxas expressed optimism that he can win the elections even without the endorsement of the influential religious group.

 

“I am operating (with the assumption) that it’s (endorsement) just a plus if it comes. If not, we cannot force them to side with something that they do not like,” he said in a press briefing last Monday.