Roco urges GMA to abandon bid

Dousing speculations that he is willing to run as the administration’s vice presidential candidate, presidential aspirant Raul Roco challenged President Arroyo yesterday to abandon her "futile" bid and agree to run as his vice president instead.

"Absolutely, I will not withdraw from the race. Maybe (Mrs. Arroyo) should slide down. There is no question that the Filipino people have already made up their mind to change the government... The only issue now is who to replace her with," Roco said.

Roco made the remark amid reports that former President Corazon "Cory" Aquino supposedly said she would try to broker a "political deal" between Roco and Mrs. Arroyo.

"There is no basis for that story. The last time I saw President Cory, she was saying she will stay out of politics this time. It’s time for the people to decide and she will not support anybody in particular," Roco told reporters.

Roco, whose political career took off during the Aquino administration in the mid-1980s when he ran and won a seat in the restored Congress, said the former president has been consistent in her pronouncements and needled Mrs. Arroyo about standing by her word.

"(President Cory) has been consistent in her statements so we should not involve her in speculations. President Cory stands by what she says unlike President Arroyo," said Roco, a two-term senator whom Mrs. Arroyo drafted as education secretary when she assumed office in 2001.

He said Mrs. Arroyo had already been given the chance to serve the Filipino people for three years but she blew the opportunity.

"She was already given three years but she was found wanting," Roco said in Filipino. "Maybe it’s but proper that she yield to others."

"She was found wanting," Roco stressed. "It’s very clear in all the places we’ve visited... The national consensus is to change the government. We’re appealing that it not be changed with those who are not ready."

Roco noted that 59 local leaders from various parts of the country were inducted yesterday into Roco’s Aksyon Demokratiko party.

He also stressed that the party’s preparations for the May 10, 2004 elections are in full swing and the coalition supporting his candidacy is ready to present its "Platform of Hope" to the Filipino people.

The Roco Machinery

Already, the Roco machinery has already surrounded itself with all the trappings of a full blown electoral campaign.

The Roco campaign has even adopted a unique hand sign to match the "V" or victory sign of traditional politicians and the "L" or Laban (fight) sign used by pro-democracy leaders during the campaign against former dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Roco’s campaign handsign is a closed hand with the thumb, index and little fingers sticking out, the manual letters for I, L and Y and universally used for "I Love You."

Roco said he adapted the handsign to mean "I love you, Philippines."

"We are stressing patriotism. Unless we develop patriotism, our country will not improve. Our love for our country must be personal," he said. "No one can love our country but us."

The Roco camp has also adopted a floral motif for their campaign wear with the presidential candidate already consistently appearing in shirts with floral designs.

"(The) floral (motif) is a statement. It’s life," he said. "When we run out of leaflets, we will be distributing flowers. We’ll never run out of flowers."

Gold and blue have also been selected to be the Roco camp colors with gold symbolizing their hoped-for victory and blue standing for the coalition candidates’ faith and commitment.

A singing repertoire has also been selected for the presidential aspirant, consisting of folk songs in the Tagalog, Sugbuhanon, Bicolano and Ilocano languages. The repertoire also includes the English song What A Wonderful World.