Roxas confident of victory in May polls

MANILA, Philippines – Despite lagging in surveys, Liberal Party presidential aspirant Manuel Roxas II is confident that the administration’s daang matuwid (straight path) would emerge victorious in the end.

Speaking at a meeting of local officials in Pasay City, Roxas yesterday vowed to sustain the gains of the administration to bring a better future for the country.

“This is our fight – the fight against hunger, against fear, against hopelessness,” he said.

Roxas told Pasay City officials that he was happy that on the LP’s 70th founding anniversary, they were together renewing their commitment to that fight.

“These are what we are pushing – jobs, stability and hope,”  he said. “I know that in the end, what is right, what is honest and our good relationship will prevail.”

Roxas cited the government’s P64-billion conditional cash transfer program, which provides financial aid to families to send their children to school and to avail themselves of health services.

“You can be assured that we will defend the 4Ps (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program),” he said.

“We won’t allow it to be scrapped. We will expand it. We will increase the number of families that will benefit from it.”

Roxas also cited the government’s efforts to relocate residents in hazard-prone areas and the bottom up budgeting, which institutionalized people’s participation in the budget process.

Roxas ranked third in the latest Social Weather Stations survey on presidential aspirants behind Vice President Jejomar Binay and Sen. Grace Poe.

Roxas was preferred by 21 percent of the respondents, while Binay and Poe were chosen by 31 percent and 24 percent, respectively.

Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte ranked fourth in the survey with 20 percent, while Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago had three percent.

Officials present during the meeting included Pasay City Mayor Antonio Calixto and Rep. Emi Calixto-Rubiano.