UNA heckles ‘sensitive’ Roxas: He isn’t Aquino’s ‘BFF’
Interior Secretary Mar Roxas. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/JOAN BONDOC
MANILA, Philippines— Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II was taunted by the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) on Thursday for being sensitive and being “not man enough” to take on Vice President Jejomar Binay directly.
“For Secretary Roxas’ information, the Vice President knows that everything being peddled by Secretary Roxas’ lackeys in the Senate [is] all lies and false allegations. He knows that this is part of a well-oiled attack by the surrogates of Roxas, who is apparently not man enough to take on the Vice President directly,” Navotas Representative Toby Tiangco, interim president of UNA, said in a statement.
“The Vice President knows only the courts can render judgment on guilt or innocence, not the Senate and especially not the three lackeys of Roxas,” he said, reacting to Roxas, who brought up the corruption allegations against Binay in their latest word war over the botched Mamasapano operation.
It was Binay, who first insinuated that the Interior Secretary was an ineffective leader after he was bypassed by his subordinates during the Mamasapano operation. Using this standard, Roxas then said the Vice President should have also known everything that was happening in Makati when he was still the city mayor.
“Masyado namang pikon si Secretary Roxas,” Tiangco said, “The Vice President was stating an unpleasant truth: Secretary Roxas was kept out of the loop by the President when Roxas was supposed to be the anointed one and BFF (best friend forever). Masakit pakinggan pero totoo. Hindi s’ya ang tunay na BFF. Masakit ang pagtaksilan. Move on na, Mister Secretary.”
(Secretary Roxas is too sensitive. The Vice President was stating an unpleasant truth: Secretary Roxas was kept out of the loop by the President when Roxas was supposed to be the anointed one and BFF. The truth hurts. He is not (Aquino’s) BFF. It’s painful to be betrayed. Mr. Secretary should just move on.)
What was uncontested, he said, was the fact that resigned Philippine National Police Chief Director General Alan Purisima was given free rein to run a major police operation under the watch of Roxas without his knowledge.
“President Aquino and his true BFF Purisima kept him (Roxas) in the dark. Kung nilihim sa kanya ng Presidente siguro may dahilan ang Presidente. Itanong na lang ni Secretary Roxas kay Presidente kung gusto n’yo pero huwag na s’yang mag-inarte. He should take this up with the President and not vent his anger and hurt on others,” said the UNA official.
(President Aquino and his true BFF Purisima kept him in the dark. The President probably has a reason why he kept the mission secret to Roxas. Sec. Roxas should just ask the President why, but he should stop this act. He should take this up with the President and not vent his anger and hurt on others.)
“Granted he was kept out of the loop. What Secretary Roxas did after he learned of the Mamasapano incident speaks volumes of the type of leader he is: Roxas did nothing. He did nothing to save the lives of the members of PNP-SAF (Special Action Force).”
“Once again, Roxas was plunged in a crisis situation like ‘Yolanda’ and he failed the test of leadership. Muli syang tinimbang at muli siyang nagkulang (He was measured and was found wanting),” Tiangco added.
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