Santa Barbara, Iloilo — President Benigno Aquino III yesterday delivered an Independence Day speech that notably mentioned how Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II is a dependable worker who gets the job done.
Was it an indirect endorsement by the President for Roxas to be his heir apparent?
Roxas is the presumptive Liberal Party standard bearer for the 2016 presidential elections.
Aquino has yet to make an official endorsement, saying he would do it after his sixth and last State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 27. Nonetheless, the President has said Roxas remains his top choice to be his successor.
In his speech, Aquino said the recent creation of a Negros Island Region was an example of maximizing resources and making more efficient the delivery of services to the people.
According to the President, it was Roxas who presented him with the idea of creating a Negros Island Region, which he said has been the clamor of the people in Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental.
“You know that Secretary Mar, a true child of Panay Island, led in the advancing of this project. Like what I’ve mentioned, we know that when we assign Mar Roxas to lead a project or a program, you can expect that this would succeed,” Aquino said in Filipino.
The 117th Independence Day rites were held at the Santa Barbara Church, where the Philippine flag was first unfurled outside of Luzon following the 1898 revolution. In the first Independence Day commemoration held in the Visayas, President Aquino paid tribute to the Filipino’s resilience and courage to overcome both natural and manmade obstacles.
Speaking before the jam-packed session hall of the restored Iloilo provincial capitol where the traditional vin d’honneur was held, the President said the cocktail ceremony was held outside of Malacañang to “pay tribute to the solidarity of the past and demonstrate our unity of purpose for the present and the future.”
“Today we commemorate the triumph of the Filipino people, whose solidarity, courage and integrity have always allowed them to overcome any obstacle,” the President said in his speech before about 300 legislators and other officials, members of the diplomatic corps and their spouses as well as business and civic leaders.
He said the country “faced no shortage of trials” such as natural and manmade calamities, corruption and poverty.
“They have demonstrated time and again that they have inherited the skill, the talent and the wisdom of their ancestors. They have proven themselves ready to stand for what is right—be it in waging a revolution against colonizers, in peacefully regaining democracy after a dictatorship, or in helping me undertake the positive transformation of society to which we are all witness,” the President said.
5 PROTESTERS NABBED
But even as the President spoke, five members of militant organizations led by the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan were arrested and several others were injured after police clashed with anti-government protesters about 1.6 kilometers from where the vin d’honneur was held.
Senior Supt. Kashmir Disomangcop, Iloilo City police director, said the five were arrested after the protesters allegedly forced their way into the a police blockade near the Plaza Libertad. Disomangcop said the protesters were allowed to hold their rally only at the plaza as part of security measures.
An undetermined number of policemen were also injured while shields were damaged, according to the police official.
Police were set to file malicious mischief and direct assault charges among others against those arrested who were still detained at the Iloilo City Police Precinct 1 as of Friday afternoon./INQUIRER.NET
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