Roxas downplays meeting with Iglesia ni Cristo brass

Liberal Party standard-bearer Mar Roxas on Saturday downplayed the significance of his meeting with officials of the politically influential Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) religious sect.

“It was a regular meeting wherein we formally presented our platforms and priorities,” said Roxas, confirming that he and running mate, Leni Robredo, had sought an audience with the bloc-voting INC.

“It happened about one or two weeks ago. But there’s nothing (to it),” Roxas told reporters after attending a covenant signing with urban poor leaders in Quezon City.

He doused speculations over the hourlong meeting, claiming that political issues were not discussed.

Asked if the INC had assured them of its support, Roxas said: “There was nothing about politics. Support should be given voluntarily.”

“We just gave them our platforms. They know our track record and they will make the decision at the right time,” he said.

The meeting came as a surprise since Roxas was bitterly criticized by the sect’s members who staged a four-day mass action in August last year to protest what they claimed was the Aquino administration’s interference in the sect’s affairs.

The INC members were protesting the justice department’s giving due course to a complaint of kidnapping and illegal detention brought against several of the sect’s leaders by an expelled INC minister.

Roxas, the then interior secretary, had asked the protesting INC members to refrain from causing inconvenience to the public after they occupied the corner of Shaw Boulevard and Edsa, greatly incoveniencing commuters and motorists.

“While all citizens have the right to be heard and to peaceful assembly, the exercise of these rights cannot impinge on the rights of others or cause inconvenience to anyone,” he said.

Robredo herself disclosed that she and Roxas spoke with INC leaders during the live INQ&A interview with vice presidential aspirants on Thursday.

Roxas yesterday said he remained optimistic about his chances of winning the presidency despite his failure to break through to the top spot in the preelection surveys.

He said he believed the voters will realize the economic progress that country has experienced under Presdient Aquino’s daang matuwid (straight path) governance.

“I’m sure the people want somebody who has plans, and the competence and experience to implement these plans. That’s my confidence in our countrymen,” he said.

“Filipinos are decent. They know to how to distinguish right from wrong and the road they should take. I trust the Filipinos’ ability to choose their (leaders).”

“I’m sure they don’t want somebody who sees killing and disappearances as solutions to all the problems. I’m sure they don’t want somebody facing several cases of corruption who, until now, cannnot explain the source of his (wealth),” he said.

In an apparent attempt to boost his candidacy in the capital during the final stretch of the campaign, Roxas yesterday signed a covenant with urban poor groups in Quezon City.

He said that under a Roxas presidency, the government would make available in-city relocation housing for some 120,000 families living in so-called danger zones in Metro Manila.

“We started this program at the DILG (Department of the Interior and Local Government) and we will continue and expand this,” Roxas said.

“I will immediately go to Congress and ask for the passage of a law that would make the purchase of in-city, on-site and near-site relocation areas faster and avoid being caught in the slow (bureaucratic) process,” he said.

According to Roxas, the enactment of a law would make the construction of medium-rise buildings and purchase of resettlement areas for residents of squatter colonies much easier.