Vote for honest leaders, group says

by Elaine Ramos Alanguilan




Original Story: http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideNews.htm?f=/2009/december/5/news7.isx&d=/2009/december/5


FILIPINOS should vote for leaders who will bring back integrity, accountability and vision to governance, and ensure clean and honest elections, the Makati Business Club said yesterday.

Filipinos always had the choice not to be led back to perdition. President Gloria Arroyo could not pursue her agenda if elected as a Pampanga representative without the support of her colleagues in Congress, the group said.

“In the coming elections, we have the opportunity to reject the old regime and deny the consolidation of anti-reform and anti-democratic forces in Congress,” the group said in a statement.

“Thus, we call on all Filipinos to vote for transformative leaders who will bring back integrity, accountability, and vision back to governance, and make sure our votes are counted correctly.”

The group said President Arroyo’s campaign for a seat representing the second district of Pampanga next year only meant she was not willing to give up public office and its accompanying perks.

“Two days after the Maguindanao massacre took place, as the body count was still rising and the public was still reeling in shock and outrage over the unprecedented scale of violence, President Arroyo did not head south to condole with the families of the victims, but made her way north for her 50th visit this year to her home province of Pampanga to inspect a dredging project,” the group said.

”She declared she [was] ‘not ready to step down completely from public service.’ We believe it is not public service that President Arroyo is unwilling to give up but public office and the accompanying trappings of power.”

The group said the President’s decision to run for a House seat bolstered its long-held suspicion that she was determined to pursue her agenda to amend the Constitution so she could install herself as prime minister once a parliament was established.

“And once she reascends to the pinnacle of political power, she will drag us back down the path of cheating, corruption, manipulation, deception and cynicism,” the group said, alluding to claims that she cheated in the 2004 elections to defeat the other presidential candidates. Elaine Ramos Alanguilan


Original Story: http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideNews.htm?f=/2009/december/5/news7.isx&d=/2009/december/5