Roxas meets Brunei’s sultan; talks not about candidacy

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Liberal Party (LP) presidential bet and Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II visited Brunei Darussalam’s head of state Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah yesterday.

Upon the personal invitation of the Sultan, Roxas met with Bolkiah, who is reportedly worth more than $20 billion, during a dinner at the Istana Nurul Iman Palace, Bolkiah’s official residence.

Roxas, however, denied that his meeting with Bolkiah had something to do with his candidacy for president in 2016.

He said he and the Sultan of Brunei had been friends since 1990.

Roxas was accompanied by Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Gov. Mujiv Hataman, Cavite Rep. Francis Abaya, Rep. Ibarra Gutierez, Laguna Rep. Dan Fernando and Youth Against Corruption and Poverty party-list Rep. Carol Lopez.

Roxas refused to divulge other details of his trip to Brunei.

He and his party flew to the capital of Bandar Seri Begawan at 10 p.m. Friday on a private plane.

Roxas arrived here Friday afternoon for a series of engagements before flying to Brunei.

Robredo denies she is Mar’s VP

Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo denied reports that she will be Roxas’ running mate for the 2016 polls.

“No it’s not true,” Robredo said in a text message to The STAR.

Reports said that the widow of the late DILG secretary Jesse Robredo will be the vice presidential candidate of the ruling party.

Robredo, however, said she has no plans to run for higher office.

President Aquino will reportedly go to Naga City on Aug. 18 to commemorate the third death anniversary of the former DILG chief.

Reports said the administration party will announce the tandem of Roxas and Robredo during the event.

For his part, Sen. Sergio Osmeña III said Robredo, if packaged properly, would be unbeatable as vice presidential candidate, unless Sen. Grace Poe opts to run for the same position.

However, Osmeña believes the chances of Robredo running for vice president is higher than Poe going for any other position than the presidency.

Citing a recent survey on voters’ preference for vice president, Osmeña noted that Poe was the runaway winner with 40 percent of the votes. Tied for second place were Sens. Francis Escudero and Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

The LP has been wooing Poe to be Roxas’ running mate.

Poe has not responded to the offer, saying she has not even decided on whether or not to run for higher office in 2016.

With Poe seemingly intent on running for president with Escudero as her running mate, Osmeña said Robredo is the best choice of the LP for vice president.

“Leni Robredo is going to be an easy sell. She’s going to make a wonderful candidate. She’s going to be a big plus for Mar,” he said.

New fire trucks

Roxas will distribute fire trucks to 55 provinces to boost the fire fighting capability of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP).

Roxas will be accompanied by governors, mayors and other representatives of local government units during the turnover of 80 new fire trucks.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government said the fire trucks are the first batch of the 469 units that will be distributed to cities and municipalities.

The fire trucks are equipped with a pump-and-roll mechanism. This mechanism enables the fire truck to shoot water even when the truck is moving.

BFP spokesman Supt. Renato Marcial said they are targeting to provide one truck for each city or municipality to increase the firefighting capability of firemen. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe, Marvin Sy