Lanao del Norte officials assure Mar Roxas of support in 2016

ILIGAN CITY—Lanao del Norte officials have assured Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II of their support if he runs for presidency in the 2016 national elections.

“Once the Liberal Party headquarters announces his candidacy for president, we would be 101 percent behind Mar Roxas,” Gov. Mohamad Khalid Dimaporo said on Saturday during the 56th charter day of Lanao del Norte.

“Here in Lanao del Norte, we toe the party line and right now we stand with the LP,” Dimaporo, who came from a powerful political clan in Mindanao, said.

“Once the LP headquarters gives the marching orders, we will work very hard to ensure victory in the province for our party.”

Roxas graced the culmination of the celebration held at Mindanao Civic Center in Tubod municipality as guest speaker before hundreds of local government officials and employees.

This was after he distributed 22 patrol jeeps to the police of the northern Mindanao province in the same venue.

The secretary was greeted with loud cheers as he made his way inside the Civic Center stadium. He eagerly shook hands with his supporters and sometimes held camera phones for them to take a “selfie.”

He then thanked the local officials and gave a short message to the crowd. As if making campaign promises, Roxas said: “Maasahan po ninyo ang inyong kaibigan. Si Mar Roxas noon, ngayon, hanggang sa darating.”

Make or break?

Asked about the chances of Roxas’ presidential candidacy winning the vote of Mindanao, which had almost 12 million registered voters, Dimaporo said it could go either way.

He said a politician’s stand on the controversial Bangsamoro Basic Law could “make or break” the success of a candidate in his province.

The governor earlier said that Lanao del Norte, like Zamboanga City, did not need the BBL and opposed the inclusion of the province’s municipalities in the envisioned Bangsamoro region.

“Mindanao is predominantly non-Muslim in terms of voter population so I think it can go any way and that’s how important the BBL is,” he said.

“Yes, we want the BBL to push through but we want a plebiscite,” he added.

Under the controversial measure, the Bangsamoro territory will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao as well as the six municipalities in Lanao del Norte that voted for inclusion in the ARMM in the 2001 plebiscite.

Dimaporo had agreed to a plebiscite to amend the core territory of the region which was set under the Section 3 of Article II of the BBL.

“What I am asking Malacañang, Senate and Congress to do is not transfer our six municipalities to the BBL without clearance from the people,” he said.