PNoy’s strong campaigning a preview of 2016, says ally

Press statement of Rep. Eduardo R. Gullas (Cebu, First District)

Member, Commission on Appointments

RMB-404 House of Representatives, Batasang Pambansa, Quezon City, Tel. No. 951-8924 

CEBU, Philippines - It may be three years early, but Filipinos are now getting a preview as to how strongly President Aquino will be coming out to bat for his preferred successor in 2016, an ally in Congress said Sunday.

"In a way, we are now having a foretaste of 2016 -- of the manner by which the President will be pushing relentlessly for his successor," said Cebu Rep. Eduardo Gullas.

The President has been performing a remarkable job tirelessly campaigning countrywide for the senatorial candidates of the Liberal Party (LP)-led coalition, Gullas said.

"If the President is now pushing hard for his Senate bets, he will surely be campaigning several times harder for his successor -- for the one who can best carry on the reforms he has initiated, especially in fighting official corruption," Gullas said.

On account of initial gains in clean governance, Transparency International gave the Philippines a Corruption Perception Index score of 3.4 in 2012, up from a score of 2.6 in 2011.

The score is based on a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 means that a country is perceived as highly corrupt and 10 means that a country is perceived as very clean.

Also due to improved governance and financial management, Fitch Ratings recently gave the Philippines its first-ever investment-grade credit rating.

Gullas is a member of the national executive committee and Cebu provincial head of the Nacionalista Party (NP), which has three senatorial candidates under the LP-led coalition -- Cynthia Villar, Alan Peter Cayetano and Antonio Trillanes IV.

"The President understandably wants dependable officials who can best help him and the country keep up the reforms," Gullas said.

"He is in an excellent position to endorse candidates owing to his high approval rating. He is not squandering the occasion to help elect as many like-minded reformists as possible," Gullas added.

Based on the latest Pulse Asia survey, the President posted approval and trust ratings of 68 percent and 70 percent, respectively.

The President recently broadcast the LP-led coalition senatorial candidates in Cebu during a rally in Gullas' congressional district. — PR (FREEMAN)