Roxas: Win at all cost a lie

Liberal Party presidential candidate Mar Roxas casts his vote at the Rufina Andrada Santos Memorial School, Roxas City, Capiz. RAFFY LERMA/INQUIRER PHOTO

ROXAS CITY, Capiz—Liberal Party (LP) presidential candidate Mar Roxas on Monday pooh-poohed allegations of cheating by his camp.

He dismissed as lies speculation that the administration party was hell-bent on ensuring his victory and that of his running mate, Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo.

“Since the start [my rivals] have been concocting lies and spreading misinformation,” Roxas told reporters after casting his vote here.

“They have been saying that they will win, but they have also been attacking me. So I take that as a compliment because they regard me as their strongest opponent,” he said.

He said the long queues in the voting precincts were proof of the country’s vibrant democracy.

“This is the strongest evidence our democracy is very much alive and the people have invested in protecting it,” he said.

As to reports that supporters of one of his rivals, Rodrigo Duterte, would launch protests if their candidate lost, Roxas said: “Our institutions are much stronger than they are.”

“What’s their proof (of cheating)? In the end, reason will prevail. All of this is just alarmist propaganda which they themselves started,” he said.

Meanwhile, Akbayan Rep. Barry Gutierrez, spokesperson of the LP-led Daang Matuwid coalition, maintained that there was “absolutely no truth” to the claim of by Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) that vote counting machines (VCMs) were seen in Novotel, a hotel near Roxas’ residence in Cubao, Quezon City.

He said the Commission on Elections (Comelec) made a full accounting of all the VCMs which have a unique security system “that allows the Comelec to know where they are.”

“This means it is impossible for anyone to misplace these machines. Secondly, the basis of the statement of Henrietta de Villa of the PPCRV is mere rumor, completely bereft of basis and substance,” Gutierrez said in a statement.

“We also question the timing of this statement, releasing it exactly on Election Day and not earlier. Nonetheless, to dispel all doubts, we support a full inquiry into this,” he said.

He challenged De Villa to provide the precinct numbers where the VCMs were supposedly deployed.

“Should she fail to do so, we expect Ms De Villa to issue an apology and attestation of the truth with the same enthusiasm and alacrity she displayed in repeating this rumor,” Gutierrez said.

For his part, Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday took the initiative of guarding his votes, setting up a quick count action center at his campaign headquarters in Mandaluyong City.

After casting his vote at precinct 36A at Mariano Marcos Memorial Elementary School in Barangay Valdez, Batac, Ilocos Norte, the vice presidential candidate planed back to Manila and launch his campaign’s quick-count nerve center to monitor the election results,  directly receiving reports from his volunteers and supporters.