UNA bet Cojuangco nixes feud with Aquinos, says ‘family comes first’

Former Tarlac Governor Margarita “Tingting” Cojuangco. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

TARLAC, Philippines — Former Tarlac Governor Margarita “Tingting” Cojuangco’s bid for a seat in the Senate may be with the opposition but this did not necessarily mean that they had a rift with the Aquinos as she insisted on Thursday that “family comes first.”

She was reacting to statements that the opposition stood to gain benefits from the perceived division between the two families.

The UNA candidate recalled how she and Paul Aquino, father of Team PNoy candidate Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV were “really close” until recently but said that she believed that their families should be united even as its members fought for public office under different coalitions.

“We are all family… Hindi kami dapat magkawatak-watak. We will not destroy Noynoy’s [President Aquino’s nickname] programs,” she maintained.

Still asked about a supposed rift in the Aquino-Cojuangco clan, she told reporters in jest “hindi ninyo ako mahuhuli diyan” and insisted that while she was determined to deliver votes for UNA in Tarlac, “family will come first.”

UNA is counting on Cojuangco and her husband, former Tarlac Representative Jose “Peping” Cojuangco Jr. to deliver votes for UNA in a province that is widely seen as an Aquino bailiwick.

The opposition’s deputy campaign manager, Valenzuela Mayor Sherwin Gatchalian, even called her the “ace” up their sleeve when it came to securing votes from Tarlac.

“Of course, I would try my very, very best… I will deliver, I have to,” she told reporters at the sidelines of their campaign activities at the Concepcion Market this morning.

She said that she was positive she could obtain votes for their coalition, having been the province’s governor before.

But there was no denying Team PNoy’s strengths in the province as “Noynoy is still the President,” she added.

The Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) is the dominant party in Tarlac and is led by Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco, the uncle of President Benigno Aquino III.