DAVAO CITY – The camp of Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and a militant group have accused the Aquino administration of blatantly using government resources to prop up and facilitate the campaign of Liberal Party standard bearers Mar Roxas and Leni Robredo.
Duterte’s camp called the practice “shameless,” while Anakbayan said the Aquino administration has been engaged in “legalized vote buying” through the use of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino program.
Lawyer Paola Alvarez, the spokesperson of the Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan, said supporters of Roxas and Robredo have been using red-plated government vehicles in putting up posters of their candidates.
“It (the use of government vehicles) only exposes the kind of governance under the Daang Matuwid,” Alvarez said. “It is a platform of deceit, conditioning Filipinos that this administration has been clean and efficient, when in reality it is corrupt and worse than the past administrations,” Alvarez said in a statement.
She also described as “shameless and loathesome” LP’s use of government resources to prop up Roxas.
Alvarez cited a photo that circulated online, which showed a mini dumptruck loaded with yellow campaign posters in Zamboanga Sibugay. Another photo also showed a black Toyota Hilux — with plate number SDK 417 — loaded with a campaign material bearing the word Roxas and the administration slogan Daang Matuwid.
“The administration is obviously at the height of desperation as its candidates continue to lag behind the surveys,” Alvarez said. “This administration is doing everything to push its cards on the table, to the extent of robbing the government coffers.”
Peter Laviña, Duterte’s spokesperson, also said Roxas has been dangling government programs such as the Bottom-Up Budgeting and the 4Ps in his campaign sorties.
“Government resources are now officially the campaign kitty of the bets of the administration,” said Laviña.
He said BUB has been used in luring local officials to support Roxas.
Anakbayan also assailed the use of the conditional cash transfer program to win votes for Roxas.
“Legalized vote buying,” according to Anakbayan chair Vencer Crisostomo.
The youth group also hit the Aquino administration for allegedly using public funds for the LP electoral campaign.
“Out of desperation to let Roxas win the presidential contest at all costs, the Aquino government is contributing all the resources under its command for the ruling party’s campaign,” said Crisostomo.
He said patronage politics was the real meaning of tuwid na daan, recalling the earlier warnings by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Dinky Soliman that “the fate of these programs would now be up to people voting for new leaders in the 2016 elections.”
“This is on top of the CCTs’ failure as an anti-poverty measure and its taking away of funds that should have been directly allotted for social services,” he said. SFM
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