Private Mass with Sin launches Roco campaign

The political party of presidential candidate Raul Roco will begin its campaign today by attending a private Mass with retired Manila archbishop Jaime Sin at the cardinal’s official residence at Villa San Miguel in Mandaluyong City.

"We want to make a good start, so we’ll be attending Mass with Cardinal Sin," said Roco’s running mate, former Tarlac congressman Herminio Aquino, in a telephone interview. "It will only be a small, private Mass."

Roco paid Sin a visit recently at the Villa San Miguel. The former Manila archbishop reportedly said he hoped Roco would win the presidency, but the candidate said the comment was only a "pastoral blessing," not an endorsement.

In previous elections, Sin had endorsed candidates, including the late Speaker Ramon Mitra Jr. who lost to Fidel Ramos. Sin is close to former President Corazon Aquino, who rose to power in 1986 after the EDSA people power revolt where Sin was a catalyst.

The campaign period for national candidates begins today with Roco’s Alliance of Hope making a campus tour in Metro Manila.

Tomorrow, the Alliance of Hope flies to Naga City in Roco’s bailiwick, the Bicol Region, to kick-start a series of provincial tours. On Thursday, the alliance goes to Legazpi City and Roco’s hometown in Camarines Sur.

Roco first ran for the presidency in 1998, when he finished a surprise third despite the apparent lack of a political machinery, thanks to strong backing from the women and youth sectors.

Estrada was ousted amid bribery and plunder charges in 2001 by the EDSA II revolt that catapulted then Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to the presidency.

In an earlier interview, Roco campaign manager Dr. Jaime Galvez-Tan said that while the youth and women’s sectors are priorities in Roco’s 2004 campaign, he said the campaign will also focus on the urban poor.

The latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed that Mrs. Arroyo has the backing of the business sector, while Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP) standard-bearer Fernando Poe Jr. is the favorite candidate of the masses, who comprise the D and E classes.

The survey showed that Roco was overtaken by the President in second place, while Poe remains the front-runner of the race for the helm of government.

Tan, however, expressed confidence that, during the campaign, voters will shift support to Roco after they hear his platforms of government.

"We’ll focus on our strongest point and consolidate our weakest links. We’ll make it this time," the former health secretary said.