PRESIDENTIAL candidate Mar Roxas met with lawmakers from Mindanao and the Visayas on Tuesday, but he did not use the gathering to conduct a loyalty check, an ally of the Liberal Party standard-bearer said.
Roxas’ friend, Yacap Rep. Carol Lopez, said that during the meeting, Mar neither talked politics nor sought their support for his presidential bid in the 2016 elections.
Roxas met with the representatives from Mindanao at the Balay headquarters in Cubao in the morning, and with congressmen from the Visayas bloc in the afternoon in Manila.
Lopez said Roxas only wanted to discuss the situation on the ground among the Mindanao representatives.
Lopez said nearly all or at least 30 Mindanao congressmen in the meeting have pledged their support for Roxas.
Among those who attended the Balay meeting were Basilan Rep. Jim Hataman Salliman, Lanao del Sur Rep. Pangalian Balindong, Cotabato Rep. Bai Sandra Sema, South Cotabato and General Santos City Rep. Pedro Acharon Jr., Davao del Norte Rep. Anton Lagdameo and Zamboanga City Rep. Celso Lobregat.
Also present were Zamboanga del Sur Governor Roberto Uy and Lanao del Norte Governor Mohamad Khalid Dimaporo.
There are at least 50 Mindanao lawmakers in the House of Representatives.
The meeting was not intended to be a loyalty check, Lopez added.
“Si Mar naman didn’t exactly ask the congressmen/women are you for me? The show of support came from the congressmen. Hindi naman ito loyalty check,” Lopez said.
Roxas meanwhile dropped by the membership meeting of the Visayan bloc in Manila. Roxas only talked about the merits of the proposed Bangsamoro basic law, which the Visayan bloc supports, according to its leader Negros Occidental Rep. Albee Benitez.
“During our membership meeting, Secretary Mar dropped by and said hello,” Benitez said.
Benitez said the bloc was only concerned with the development of the region and ruled out politics during the meeting with Roxas.
Benitez downplayed patching his supposed rift with Roxas following the meeting.
The reported rift started when Roxas supposedly endorsed reelectionist Negros Occidental Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. without consulting local LP members.
In a bid to consolidate votes for Roxas, Marañon supposedly fielded candidates from the United Negros Alliance against the mayoral bets of Benitez’s local political party, Love Negros, who do not support Roxas’ bid.
At the gathering, Benitez supposedly called Roxas “our next president”, but clarified that all candidates are potential presidential candidates anyway.
He said he filed as an independent candidate next year, which means he is no longer provincial chair of the Liberal Party in Visayas.
“Hindi naman kami nag-aaway. I filed for independent candidate because of certain issues I had concerning of my mayoralty candidates,” Benitez said.