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MAMBUSAO, Capiz—Administration candidates are confident that the influence of Interior Secretary Mar Roxas among his province mates as well as those from nearby provinces in Western Visayas will deliver votes for the Team PNoy senatorial candidates on election day.
Western Visayas is made up of six provinces: Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo and Negros Occidental. In 2010, Capiz had more than 400,000 registered voters.
Former Las Piñas Rep. Cynthia Villar, a Team PNoy candidate from the Nacionalista Party, said the family of Roxas, the Liberal Party president on-leave, had a long track record of service in Capiz.
Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara, an administration candidate from Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino, said Roxas had the capacity to put together erstwhile conflicting factions in the region.
Roxas legacy
“You know this is the hometown of the late Sen. Gerry Roxas and their family has continued their service from the time of the father of Gerry Roxas until the time of Mar. So they served this province well,” Villar told reporters after addressing a sortie in this town.
“I think with their support, they can carry us here in Capiz,” Villar said of Roxas and his family.
It wasn’t too long ago when Sen. Manuel Villar, Cynthia’s husband, and Roxas were rivals for the top political post as they led the Nacionalista Party and the Liberal Party, respectively, in the run-up to the 2010 presidential elections.
Roxas, however, decided to give way to his party mate and eventual election winner, then Sen. Benigno Aquino III. Villar went on with his presidential bid but lost to President Aquino.
“Senator Villar’s father was born in Iloilo City and he considers Region Six [Western Visayas] as his home that’s why we’re always here. Our biggest investment outside Metro Manila is in Iloilo,” Villar said.
Roxas factor
Angara acknowledged Roxas’ influence over erstwhile conflicting factions in the region.
“There is the Roxas factor. It is a big factor because he consolidated opposing camps from 2010 in Iloilo,” Angara said.
“[Niel, Sr.] Tupas and [Arthur] Defensor competed against each other in 2010. Now, they are both under Team PNoy,” he added.
Angara, an official of the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino drafted by no less than Aquino in his senatorial ticket, said Team PNoy was quite formidable in Western Visayas because of the Liberal Party machinery in the region.
“We’re strong not only in Capiz, but in nearby provinces as well. We are confident of the LP machinery, not only because of Secretary Roxas,” Angara said.