Palace laments fizzling of ‘unity’

MANILA, Philippines – Joining the unity talks proposed by President Aquino to stop an election victory of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte carried no conditions for Sen. Grace Poe, Malacañang stressed yesterday as it lamented her outright rejection of the invitation.

Speaking over radio dzRB, Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office Undersecretary Manuel Quezon III said Poe and Liberal Party standard-bearer Manuel Roxas II were two of the candidates who share the President’s stand on issues the most and that the call for them to talk – along with other bets – to thwart a looming dictatorship was in response to the clamor from various sectors for them to do something.

“The first duty of a president and in fact, the first duty of any leader, is to think of the national interest. What we are faced with is the problem of a minority representing basically a fascistic approach to governance, while the overwhelming majority are not for that kind of governance,” Quezon said.

“Therefore, the leader’s challenge is to find every way to pursue the national interest and that includes an appeal for unity,” he said.

The President said that while those against a dictatorship like Roxas, Poe and other presidential candidates, Vice President Jejomar Binay and Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, may be divided, they share the “united message” of the 70 percent against the 30 percent of frontrunner Duterte.

Quezon said it was not a desperate move on the part of the administration to call for a unity meeting as Aquino and Roxas did not set any conditions for anyone who would want to join.

“The President only gave a voice to the call of many. The President heeded not just the call of the public, but he also bared the two candidates who are close to (his) aspirations,” he said. “But we also saw what happened and it was saddening,” he added, referring to Poe’s decision. Quezon lamented Poe’s quick rejection of the invitation.

“So we are where we are. Like what...Roxas said, the fight goes on and they will win. And no one can say the President...or Roxas did not do their best to address the fears of the majority of the people,” Quezon said.

“The clock is ticking and what is saddening here is that Senator Poe does not seem to have put much thought into a very serious question and a very momentous appeal,” he said.

“We can all hope for enlightenment and discernment on her part. But again, the clock is ticking, the damage has been done; the harsh words have been uttered. This is one of the tests of leadership that you must make decisions and that your words will have repercussions,” he said. 

Offer ‘ridiculed’

Saying the country’s future is much more important than their political ambitions, Roxas also expressed regrets at Poe’s decision.

He said it was unfortunate that Poe has “rejected and ridiculed my offer to meet and talk about unity and our country’s way forward.”

 “I made this conversation public because the matter is not between the two of us. It involves our supporters, our constituencies,” Roxas said in a statement directed at Poe, which he read at the LP headquarters in Quezon City hours before the miting de avance or the last campaign rally of the administration coalition at the Quezon Memorial Circle.

“With just a few days before elections, it is important that the public is informed because at the end of all this, it is their interest at stake,” he said.

He reiterated that at stake in tomorrow’s presidential elections are the country’s democratic system, its economy and security.

“Senator Poe said ‘there’s nothing to talk about’ and I’m surprised. Isn’t the biggest threat to our democracy, the weakening of the peso, the risk of losing investments, an urgent matter?” Roxas said.

He said it is already clear to many that what Duterte intends to do if elected are to appoint communists to the government, kill anyone who disobeys him and close government institutions like Congress.

“It’s clear to me the election is not about any politician or the political career of anyone because what we’re fighting for here are the dreams of 100 million Filipinos who work and make sacrifices everyday so that their children will have a better life, and that’s what we’re fighting for,” he said. He also doused speculations that he was withdrawing from the race.

 “We’ll not waver. As before: this is a fight worth fighting, this is the good fight,” Roxas said.

He said his invitation to Poe was a general call so any talk about one of them giving way to the other was premature.

 “We won’t know anymore what could’ve happened because Senator Grace blocked this topic (of unity talks),” he said.

Roxas’ spokesman Akbayan party-list Rep. Ibarra Gutierrez said, “All possible options” would have been discussed had Poe agreed to meet.

What for?

In Manaoag, Pangasinan, Poe said she is open to unity talks with Roxas and other candidates but will not quit the race in favor of the administration standard bearer.

Poe stopped for prayers at the Minor Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary of Manaoag, a famous pilgrimage site, which she said is the symbol of devotion of the people of Pangasinan.

Her father, the late movie idol Fernando Poe Jr., had his roots in San Carlos City. Her mother, actress Susan Roces, was with her yesterday.

“Why not?” she said when asked if she would agree to meet with other candidates to discuss unity and peace. But she said she has not received any call from Roxas regarding the matter. But the senator said she texted the President to inform him about her receiving his message through an emissary.

“If you have a friend or even just an acquaintance for example, if you have something to say then you can easily call. I won’t reject his call, I have no reason to,” Poe said in Filipino.

She added Roxas’ call for a meeting may not be necessary. “We just need to fulfill out advocacies, our positions, our convictions and our commitment to the people,” she said in Filipino. “At this point, what is there to talk about?”

She added any initiative for unity should have been done earlier. “I have no machinery or goons to stop them from doing what they want,” she pointed out.

“You cannot change the minds of the people this way. You have to present your respective platforms that you think would be contrary to or better than what your opponent is offering,” Poe said.

 “This is not a process of elimination. The people will choose whom they think is truthful or would do good things. That will be their basis. So they should clarify what they are trying to say,” she added.

“As what my mother has always told me, I should not forget the reason why I’m running. I’m running because I believe I can help improve the lives of our countrymen. Many have become dismayed with a sistemang di makatotohanan (system that’s unrealistic). That’s all,” she added.

On being urged to give way to Roxas to open a united front against Duterte, the senator said the LP bet’s real intention is still speculation even as she made clear her running for president is a commitment to the people that cannot simply be abandoned.

Binay rejects talks

A campaign adviser of Vice President Jejomar Binay said there is no need for the latter to join any unity talks to win.

“We’re going to win. We don’t need to join anybody. If they want to join us they’re welcome,” former interior secretary Ronnie Puno told reporters at UNA’s miting de avance in Makati City yesterday.

“It’s a five-man race. Almost for sure the winner, whoever he will be, probably VP Binay, will be a minority president,” he added.

Binay spokesman earlier called President Aquino’s call hollow.

In a statement late Friday, Binay spokesman and United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) communications director Joey Salgado said what Aquino should do is just ensure that the election is free from cheating, violence and intimidation.

“Besides, such a call for unity sounds hollow considering that the President has been hitting the rivals of Roxas throughout the campaign,” Salgado added.

The President’s call came after Roxas publicly asked Poe for a meeting to discuss possible unity to prevent a Duterte election victory.

In his statement, Salgado said the will of the public should be respected.

“As long as he or she is elected in clean and honest election, the decision of the public should be respected because that is the spirit of democracy,” he added.

Meanwhile, Duterte’s campaign manager Leoncio Evasco Jr. said Roxas’ appeal for a dialogue with Poe is an admission that a Duterte victory has virtually become inevitable.

“Only a man on the verge of defeat can issue such frantic calls,” Evasco said in a statement.

“A man who cannot accept defeat in a clean and honest election, is now trying to subvert the sovereign will of the people by calling on the very rival he tried to eliminate to rally behind him and prevent Duterte from winning the presidency,” he said.

“It also further unmasks the true character of the Aquino regime – one in the face of debacle will abandon ship and run like headless chicken,” he added.

He also called Roxas’ invitation to Poe the “ultimate insult” to Filipinos and a “final act of betrayal.”

He called on Duterte’s supporters to unite in the face of what he called black propaganda against the mayor.

“A united nation will make it difficult for the oligarch to again rule and reign over the Filipinos,” he said.

“We will defeat this machination of the ruling elite to deny us the chance to secure and determine our fate and our future,” he said. – Aurea Calica , Paolo Romero, Marvin Sy, Janvic Mateo, Robertzon Ramirez, Cesar Ranirez, Helen Flores