Former President Benigno Simeon Aquino III INQUIRER PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
TARLAC CITY – The Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) said it did not agree to block the political aspirations of any member of the Aquino clan in the 2019 elections, contrary to a claim by San Manuel Mayor Benjamin Tesoro.
Tesoro announced the supposed decision of NPC in a speech during his town’s commemoration of the 1983 assassination of Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. on Aug. 21.
According to Tesoro, NPC leaders had met in Paniqui town to discuss their position on the supposed candidacies of family members of former President Benigno Aquino III.
But Tarlac Gov. Susan Yap, who serves as NPC provincial chair, said there “was never a party meeting, much more a party decision, to that effect.” “Whatever Tesoro said was his personal opinion and not that of NPC,” she added.
Yap, who sits in the NPC executive committee, said the party would “not stop any candidate for any elective position, as a matter of principle.”
Yap also said it would be unfair to say that the Aquinos did not do anything beneficial for Tarlac province.
Vice Gov. Carlito David also denied Tesoro’s claim, saying he attended the lunch in Paniqui which, he said, was not an NPC assembly but a gathering with NPC chair, former Ambassador Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco. Jo Martinez-Clemente, Contributor