FILE PHOTO: Manila City Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso speaking during his third state of the city address. Courtesy of Manila PIO
MANILA, Philippines — Manila Mayor Isko Moreno on Wednesday assured the public that his vision for progress, if he is elected president in the 2022 national elections, would not entail forgetting the sins of past leaders and past administrations.
During the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum on Wednesday, Moreno addressed concerns that he is supposedly leaning towards the Marcoses — which was among the factors cited by Vice President Leni Robredo in deciding to run for president too.
According to Moreno, it has been his style as Manila mayor to make amends with the past administrations, and form a more collective force to fix problems in his locale. However, he also clarified that it does not mean past officials would be exonerated from the cases they are facing.
“So I ran. I decided to run to offer that kind of service. I did not run dahil galit ako kanino man […] I decided to run to offer my services in my own little way,” Moreno said.
“We don’t forget what happened in the past; we will always remember their mistake, with their successes, we will duplicate and innovate […] Lahat nang nagkasala, nang-api, pumatay, papanagutin natin sila sa batas hindi dahil sa kaaway natin sila sa pulitika. Pinatawad ko silang lahat, pero no’ng nagka-kaso sila, I did not lift a finger,” he added.
Moreno earlier assailed Robredo’s decision to run for president, among which was to stop the Marcos family, through former senator Bongbong Marcos, from returning to Malacañang.
He said people should not run just to stop a particular family, noting that the elections seems to focus on just two families only, when people should be running for the sake of the people.
Moreno doubled down on his assertion, saying that paying too much attention on the political families’ squabble prevents the country from moving forward.
“Saka ‘yon na nga, nakita ko kasi, nagiging paulit-ulit ‘yong issue ng away ng pulitika ng mga pamilya tuwing may halalanan? Para bang we are being dragged backwards by this situation,” he claimed.
“Tatakbo tayo for the simple reason that we offer a solution, I believe, if I may repeat it, we must live, the people today must live in the present, we have to move forward because the real enemy is COVID-19, COVID-19 virus brought us in this situation, plus dadagdagan mo pa ng pulitika at away pamilya?” he asked.
Moreno, who is running under the Aksyon Demokratiko party, figured in one of the unity talks initiated by Robredo. However, talks failed as both Moreno and Robredo, including other personalities like Senators Manny Pacquiao and Panfilo Lacson, filed their own certificates of candidacy (COCs) for president.
Weeks earlier, Moreno was touted to be a supporter of the Marcoses after he said that the revision of history would be possible if the younger Marcos wins in 2022.
Robredo eventually revealed that the reason as to why the unity talks failed was because she found differences between her and other candidates regarding key issues. One particular issue that Robredo mentioned was Moreno’s recent statements regarding the Marcoses’ possible return to power.
There are fears that the lack of a unity between Moreno and Robredo may actually lead to a resurgence of the Marcoses and even President Rodrigo Duterte’s allies. On Tuesday, Caloocan 2nd District Rep. Edgar Erice who is now with Aksyon Demokratiko, said that both sides must still be open to the possibility of a unity coalition.
Erice — who was a long time Liberal Party (LP) member before leaving the party — thinks this method provides the opposition a greater chance of defeating Marcos and Duterte’s anointed candidate.