LP standard-bearer Mar Roxas and vice presidential candidate Leni Robredo pose with “Laban” sign after filing their candidacies on Thursday. JULLIANE LOVE DE JESUS/INQUIRER.net
While the rivals of Liberal Party (LP) standard-bearer Mar Roxas and his running mate Leni Robredo are busy running a smear campaign against them, the two never complained and calmly addressed criticisms instead.
Akbayan Rep. Barry Gutierrez, the LP’s campaign spokesperson, slammed the “unfair” attacks against the LP candidates that had surfaced in the past weeks.
Roxas and the ruling party had been dragged into several issues, including the cancer rumors of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, the legal issues of Vice President Jejomar Binay and the disqualification case of Senator Grace Poe.
Altered photos of fake tarpaulin of Roxas and Robredo on Edsa, deliberate misquotes attached to “memes,” and five-year-old stories rehashed as “current events” have also circulated on social media.
And to allegedly create confusion among voters, a man named Manuel Antonio “Mar” Roxas filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) for presidency last week. Roxas had already asked the Commission on Elections to declare his namesake a nuisance candidate.
“Mar and Leni have received more than their fair share of unfair attacks these past few weeks. Everything from photoshopped pictures supposedly showing ‘epal’ tarps along EDSA, to deliberate misquotes attached to memes circulated on social media, to five year old news stories rehashed as ‘current events,’ to the filing of a COC for president by a man named Manny ‘Mar’ Roxas, to the unending barrage of unfounded accusations that Mar is behind everything from Duterte’s cancer rumors to Poe’s disqualification case to Binay’s legal problems,” said Gutierrez.
“But Mar and Leni haven’t whined, or complained, or screamed ‘black propaganda!’ at the top of their lungs. Instead they have quietly, calmly, patiently answered every question, issued the necessary clarifications, and taken the appropriate steps to address each issue,” he said.
Gutierrez urged other candidates who are “sowing intrigues” to walk their own talk, which he said Roxas and Robredo had been doing.
“Each candidate coming out to sow intrigue and assail the integrity of their rivals should take a step back and honestly assess if they are ready to walk their own talk,” he said.
“Part of integrity is being ready, willing, and able to put yourself up for public and legal scrutiny, whether it is in facing up to corruption charges or in forthrightly answering questions relating to your qualification for office. It is being transparent and honest about your personal and professional life. It is answering inquiries head on instead of dismissing every question or criticism as ‘black propaganda’ or dodging the issues and whining instead about ‘dirty campaigning,’” he said.