Cayetano blasts Escudero’s ‘Manila-centric attitude’
Vice presidential aspirant Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano . FILE PHOTO
Vice presidential aspirant Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano blasted the “Manila-centric attitude” of his rival Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero who said that a federal government would not work in the Philippines.
“It is clear that there are some people who just want to get votes and win but lack the passion and the vision to change the country,” Cayetano said in a statement Thursday.
“They offer the same solutions that have failed miserably in the past and will not go to great extents to create real changes that people want and need,” he added.
The senator said inclusive growth could “only be achieved if power and government resources are equally distributed among all the regions.”
He said Escudero and his running mate Sen. Grace Poe’s “Manila first, other regions later policy” was the main cause of underdevelopment and unemployment in many parts of the country.
“It’s apparent that their tandem only wants to limit economic growth and improvement in the National Capital Region,” he said.
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But Escudero’s position was ”understandable,” said Cayetano, who cited the former’s previous actions in the Senate.
“As the former chairperson of the Senate Committee on Finance, Escudero would naturally defend the national budget, which allocates one-third of the country’s funds to Metro Manila while other regions only get two to four percent each,” he said.
Cayetano also assailed Escudero for questioning his motive to support Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.
Cayetano and Duterte are running as a tandem in the 2016 elections under the platform of pushing for a federal form of government.
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The senator said he “has been supporting the same agenda even before his tandem with the Davao mayor was formalized.”
“For the past two years, I have been pushing for the decongestion of Metro Manila by decentralizing government and promoting countryside development. This has been my call since the very beginning,” Cayetano said, adding that his vision was aligned with Duterte’s.
He said “the very essence of Federalism is to ensure that growth and prosperity are spread to every part of the Philippines, not just in Manila.”
“It’s a pity that Senators Poe and Escudero are against this. Kawawa naman ang ibang parte ng bansa kung sila ang mamumuno (It would be pitiful for other parts of the country if they would lead),” he said. CDG
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