Roco invades GMA bulwark to launch support group

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — Presidential aspirant Raul Roco invaded President Arroyo’s bulwark yesterday to join some 800 Capampangan who launched the Pampanga Volunteers for Roco.

Lamenting that "the country is now bleeding," Roco lambasted rising criminality in the country and the government’s fiscal management.

"There is too much lawlessness. There are kidnappings and so (many) other problems. (Finance Secretary Isidro) Camacho has even resigned," he noted.

Roco vowed to help the furniture industry in Pampanga by "clustering, creating values, and converging government agencies to support the priorities of Pampanga."

He also cited the importance of balancing the budget "by enlarging the tax base" and collecting taxes from some 10 million of the country’s 16 million earners.

"But then, if you don’t trust the government, you are not inclined to pay taxes," he added.

"That’s why I am suggesting to the President that she must either be a full-time president or a full-time campaigner," he said.

Roco said he was confident of winning next year’s election because of the support of the Reporma party of former defense chief Renato de Villa and the Probinsiya Muna Development Initiative (Promdi) of former Cebu governor Lito Osmeña.

Roco said his Aksyon Demokratiko party is slated to hold a convention on Nov. 30 to name Roco’s running mate from among Osmeña, Senators Manuel Villar, Loren Legarda, Noli de Castro, Vicente Sotto III, and Senate President Franklin Drilon.

"The ABCD sectors in all surveys are very strongly behind our candidacy. In the D sector comprising the young, we have about 48 per cent of support. In the E sector, we are second or third and the E sector is the one that is being wooed with lands, housing and so many gifts by President Arroyo," he said.

Local leaders also expressed confidence in Roco’s candidacy, including the highly regarded provincial political leader Jose Suarez, a friend and supporter of Mrs. Arroyo’s late father, President Diosdado Macapagal.

Suarez, 79, said he supports Roco because he was disappointed in the deteriorating peace and order situation and corruption which, he stressed, "extends all the way up to Malacañang."

Suarez, a delegate to the 1971 Constitutional Convention presided by Macapagal, said he committed his support to Roco after Mrs. Arroyo announced last Dec. 30 she would not run for president next year.

Suarez urged Pampangans to support Roco, explaining that his reading of the Constitution was that Philippine presidents are entitled to no more than six years in office.

"If she is elected president next year, that would mean she would hold the presidency for a total of 10 years since she has already occupied the presidency since former President (Joseph) Estrada was ousted," he said.

He insisted that those who framed the 1987 Constitution limited presidential terms to only six years, regardless of circumstances similar to Mrs. Arroyo’s succession to office.

Call For GMA Leave Rejected

Meanwhile, Malacañang and leaders of the ruling Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) rejected Roco’s call that Mrs. Arroyo take a leave of absence to campaign full time.

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye maintained that the President’s provincial trips are part of her job although Roco and other politicians consider them as early campaigning.

"All the President’s out-of-town trips are part of her job as president because there is a need for her to personally supervise the implementation of government programs nationwide," Bunye said in a radio interview.

Lakas-CMD spokesman Heherson Alvarez, for his part, said Roco’s suggestion was "dangerous" because of the prevailing national security situation.

"If she will take a leave of absence, there would be a vacuum of leadership and that is more dangerous considering that there are elements that are trying to grab power from the government," Alvarez said.

Roco said the other day the President should take a leave of absence and concentrate in her political campaign for the May 2004 elections if she cannot perform her duty as "full-time President."

Roco said Mrs. Arroyo should allow the Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr. to run the government since he has already announced his disinterest in seeking political office next year.

"Be full time President or give it to Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr. as caretaker of the government because we cannot survive six months of this," he said.

"Let him (Guingona) worry about the clean and honest elections. Let him worry about the kidnapping so that you can focus on your priorities," Roco stressed. "There is no part-time president."

Roco told a crowd of supporters in Baguio City that he is confident he will emerge the strongest candidate in the 2004 presidential race.

The former senator simply said no other candidate is strong enough to muzzle the Filipino electorate who have become "more intelligent voters now."

"The Filipino people cannot be bought," Roco said, adding "the people have a future and they have that to protect. — With Mayen Jaymalin