“If the President does not trust me, then why did he endorse me?”
Liberal Party standard-bearer Mar Roxas asked this to his presidential rival Senator Grace Poe, who insinuated in the Commission on Elections-organized debate on Sunday that the Mamasapano tragedy was proof that President Benigno Aquino III did not trust his former Interior Secretary.
“Simpleng tanong lang ‘yan eh. Bakit ako ang inendorso niya? Bakit pa tayo? Bakit pa natin isusugal ang bukas sa ibang tao, samantala nandito si Mar Roxas?” the presidential aspirant told reporters in an interview in his Ilocos Sur sortie on Monday.
“Ayon sa Pangulo, si Mar Roxas, ang siguradong magpapatuloy ng kaginhawaan na matatamasa na natin,” he added.
But Roxas strong message to Poe, whom he earlier considered to be his running mate, did not end there.
Dishing out another sarcastic comment, he said: “Palagay ko disappointed lang si Senadora Grace dahil pinangarap niya na siya ang pipiliin ng Pangulo pero siguro, kitang-kita naman sa mga pananalita ng Pangulo kung bakit tayo ang pinili.”
At one point during the fiery debate among the four candidates for president, Poe brought up the Mamasapano operation, which led to the death of more than 60 Filipinos, that was kept from Roxas. She said this shows Aquino had no trust in Roxas.
Another instance that proved Aquino doubted Roxas’ competence, according to Poe, was the President’s presence in Zamboanga on the day of the ill-fated operation against Zulkifli Bin Hir or “Marwan” in January last year.
She pointed out in Filipino: “The president had to go to Zamboanga to make sure the operation was carried out efficiently. If he trusted the people leading that time, why did he have to go there?”
But Roxas quickly retorted: “The President went there. It is his job to [boost] morale and to ensure that all the forces of the government are focused on the serious problem which faced Zamboanga.”
Roxas said that if given a chance to lead the country, he would make sure he is always at the frontline of every crisis.
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