Brgy. heads in south district back Arroyo

Thirty-two out of 34 barangay captains in the south district yesterday signed the manifesto of Rep. Antonio Cuenco expressing their support to President Gloria Arroyo amid mounting calls for her to step down.

Cuenco called for a meeting yesterday morning with all the barangay captains in his district at the Grand Convention Center to ask for reaffirmation of their support to Arroyo.

All except for two barangay captains signed a manifesto that declared their "unqualified, solid and full support" to Arroyo, who is an adopted daughter of Cebu.

"We gave her an overwhelming and resounding mandate in the elections last year and we continue to repose our trust and confidence in her governance of our beloved country for a better future," the manifesto read.

Only barangay captains Jose Navarro of Punta Princesa and Felix Abella of Labangon were not around during the meeting. Both supported the late movie actor Fernando Poe Jr. of Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino in the presidential race last year.

Cuenco was told Navarro is out of the country while Abella was sick.

In his speech yesterday, Cuenco said Arroyo got an overwhelming majority vote here in Cebu not because she cheated but because the Cebuanos cast their votes for the one with the most integrity among the five candidates.

Arroyo got over a million votes here in Cebu. She won 80,000 votes over Poe in the south district and another 81,000 votes in the north district.

Cuenco said the Cebuanos must rise to defend the votes they cast for Arroyo because the question on her election also entails question on Cebuano integrity.

The National Liga ng mga Barangay also rallied behind Arroyo with 72 out of the 73 ABC chapter presidents who were present in their assembly voting for the passage of a resolution declaring support to Arroyo last Friday. The national league has 110 members.

Meanwhile, youth leaders in Central Visayas condemn moves to oust Arroyo unconstitutionally, saying it demeans the constitution, rule of law and democracy.

In a manifesto, the Save the Philippines Now Movement, an alliance of student leaders in Central Visayas, said it is alarmed by the continuing efforts to destabilize the government which it believes can "plunge the country to chaos."

They also condemned any plan to destabilize the government and usher unconstitutional means to grab power saying it will only aggravate the suffering of the Filipinos. - Cristina C. Birondo and Joeberth M. Ocao