Robredo will win this thing–Roxas
LP standard-bearer Mar Roxas and vice presidential candidate Leni Robredo. JULLIANE LOVE DE JESUS/INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO
“SHE WILL win this thing,” Liberal Party (LP) standard-bearer Mar Roxas said of Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo on Tuesday in a show of confidence four months before Election Day.
Asked if he was prepared to work with a Vice President not from his own party, Roxas said he believed it would not come to that.
“Leni Robredo is a very, very strong candidate and I believe she is going to win this thing,” he said to cheers at the weekly Bulong Pulungan Forum at Sofitel in Pasay City.
“She’s sincere, she’s fresh, she’s grounded. She speaks from experience. She’s not a politician,” Roxas said of Robredo, the widow of Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo who was thrust into politics after her husband’s death in a plane crash in 2012.
Based on the latest Social Weather Stations survey, the LP’s vice presidential candidate is trailing Senators Francis Escudero and Bongbong Marcos for the No. 2 post.
But Robredo, a lawyer and economics graduate, has made significant headway since announcing her candidacy last year, as she has gradually raised her profile and awareness rating.
Campaign focus
Her campaign thus far has emphasized her advocacy for good governance and poverty alleviation.
In his first media forum of 2016, Roxas also fielded questions about his own presidential campaign, including whether his message of continuity of the Aquino government’s “daang matuwid” (straight path) would resonate with voters in May.
Making a familiar pitch, he talked about how gains made by the incumbent government had given the Philippine electorate a rare opportunity to champion the status quo: “For the first time in generations, we have a solid foundation brought about by clean and honest governance, hence the call now is to continue on this path,” Roxas said.
He, however, acknowledged that he had yet to fully convince voters. Recent opinion polls show Roxas has yet to take the lead from the front-runners Vice President Jejomar Binay and Sen. Grace Poe.
He said he understood that “newcomers” were attracting the people’s attention, including one who is “siga-siga” (bully), another who is “taga-ibang bansa” (from another country), alluding to Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Senator Poe.
“Our eyes are attracted to the shine of these new candidates… but I believe the people will return to the fold,” Roxas said.
He spent a considerable amount of time talking about “daang matuwid,” arguing that it was not exclusively Aquino’s.
“That’s the same thing as saying the 10 commandments is just Moses’,” Roxas said. “Daang matuwid is a set of values, lessons, guidelines that guide you so you don’t lose your way. Every Filipino who wants to live with honor is daang matuwid,” he said.
