Roxas, Poe, Binay each eye Cebu’s 2.5 million voters

Yellow power for Aquino’s chosen one for 2016

Big 3 court Cebu

President Benigno Aquino III (2nd from right) and Liberal Party standard bearer Interior SEcretary Mar Roxas (center) wave the “L” sign on stage in the Cebu Coliseum with (from left) Bohol Gov. Edgar Chato, Cebu Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale and Gov. Hilario Davide III at a rally dubbed a “Gathering of Friends.” (CDN PHOTO/ JUNJIE MENDOZA)

Yellow shirts and banners yesterday filled the Cebu Coliseum where an estimated 5,000 Liberal Party (LP) supporters rallied behind the candidacy of their standard bearer Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas.

President Aquino asked the crowd to let Roxas continue the “Daang Matuwid” or straight path agenda of his administration so that Cebu would continue to grow.

“Here in Cebu, would you allow programs for infrastructure worth P22.8 billion appropriated since 2011 to stop?” Aquino asked in Filipino, a response to criticism that Cebu has been left out and neglected in projects.

Aquino said that from 2005 to 2010, or before his term, the average annual budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for Cebu was only P1.6 billion.

But Aquino said this increased in the first five years of his term to P4 billion, and now stands at P7billion with a proposed budget for Congress approval at P9 billion for next year, he said.

The rally, billed a “gathering of friends”, took place on the same day Vice President Jejomar Binay and Sen. Grace Poe were in town for separate activities.

Sen. Grace Poe mixes with students in the main campus of the University of San Carlosas (USC) where attended the opening of their sports intramurals. (CDN PHOTO/ TONEE DESPOJO)

2.5 MILLION VOTES
The high-profile appearances in Cebu of the three front runners in a much-speculated presidential race underscored the strategic value of Cebu and its potential 2.5 million votes.

“Our work here is to make every Filipino see that Mar is the one,” said Aquino.

“I-aambag ko ang lahat ng aking maaambag. Hindi ko iiwan si Mar,” the president said. (I will contribute all I can to help. I won’t leave Mar’s side.)

Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III, LP Cebu province chairman, assured that Aquino’s platform of good governance would continue in the Visayas and thanked him for appointing Roxas to be their champion.

“We assure you, we will ensure Secretary Mar’s victory in 2016,” said Davide.

“Mao kana ang tinuoray nga pangalagad sa atong kaigsuonan,” he said.
(This is the genuine public servant who will take care of our people.)

Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale introduced Roxas as the country’s “next president. Roxas won more votes than Binay in Cebu during the 2010 vice presidential race.

Vice President Jejomar Binay is welcomed by elementary school teachers of the mountain barangay of Camp 8 in Toledo City, Cebu even if it has only 2,000 voters.
CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO

HALF FOR CEBU
Earlier in the day, President Aquino conducted a “windshield inspection” by driving through the completed 2.5-kilometer S. Osmeña road concreting project in Cebu City and the ongoing 28-kilometer Mactan Circumferential Road.

In a briefing at the DPWH 7 office with Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson, Aquino said that about half of the entire budget allocation for Region 7 infrastructure projects from 2010 went to Cebu.

That stands for P23 billion for Cebu out of a total P42 billion in national projects for the region, he said.

A day earlier, Binay chided the Aquino government for leaving Cebu behind and not giving the province enough attention.

“Maybe the people who don’t see what’s happening and don’t read the data need a new pair of eyeglasses,” said Aquino in Filipino.

“The problem is that people who play blind still won’t see anything no matter how good a pair of glasses is given to him.”

Yesterday’s gathering followed President Aquino’s endorsement of Roxas in Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan, three weeks ago.

FRIENDS
The crowd was a mix of LP leaders– five Visayas governors, congressmen, Capitol officials, mayors, vice mayors, councilors– and private sector representatives from the business process outsourcing, agriculture, and urban poor. At least 17 Cebu town mayors, both LP and LP-allied, and seven provincial board members were present.

In his speech, President Aquino mentioned early as his friends in Cebu , “Tita Nonie Uy”, lawyer Democrito Barcenas (“Manong Mokring”), who heads the Friends of Noy and Mar in Cebu, “Tita Margot” Osmeña, and Rey Calooy, of the Filipino-Cebuano Business Club.

Officials at the event included Cebu City Councilor Osmeña, Cebu City Rep. Rodrigo Abellanosa, former congressman Eduardo Gullas and grandson 1st Dist Rep. Samsam Gullas, Bogo City Mayor Junie Martinez and son Provincial Board member Tining, Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes, 6th Dist. Rep. Luigi Quisumbing, Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz Radaza, Daanbantayan Mayor Augusto Corro among others.

“I will give all of my strength for Daang Matuwid,” Roxas said.

BPO INDUSTRY
President Aquino credited Roxas for helping set up the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry in the Philippines 15 years ago as head Secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry.

In the rally, testimonials were flashed on a wide screen.

Cherry de Leon-Durano, an entrepreneur who was one of the first to start a BPO outfit in Cebu, talked about Roxas role in the industry which now employs one million direct workers.

Call center agent, Kurt Duanne Chi Ferrer, 20, from barangay Apas said his job at Teleperformance has helped him and his family even if he has not finished a college degree.

Rey Calooy of the Filipino-Cebuano Business Club Inc. recalled how difficult it was to get a loan for his repacking business until he was granted a low-interest million loan from the government for micro-small and medium entrepreneurs during the Aquino administration.

Today, his business has grown and created 180 jobs from that loan.

A person with disabilities, Greg Allan Ong Pialago from Mandaue City and a farmer Hermocilla Germina Echavez from Alegria thanked Aquino for the bottom-up budgeting program of the government, saying their concerns were heard.

Echavez got the loudest cheers when she said she was shy but just had to conquer her fear of speaking in public to express her thanks.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima who said Aquino’s administration is the only one who has a “political will” to do what is right entertained the crowd by singing a few bars of the song “That’s what friends are for” after she was egged to perform by the crowd.

Roxas was later introduced by Vice Governor Magpale as the man who sacrificed his political ambition in 2010 so Aquino could run for president.

At the end of the program, LP leaders on stage flashed the “L” sign and danced to a song composed by Filipino folk artist Noel Cabangon.

The song, a recent composition, may end up the campaign jingle of Roxas.