10/26/2009
The reformist Magdalo group, whose key leaders figured in past destabi-lization attempts against the Arroyo government, is throwing its support behind the presidential bid of Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero, the presump-tive standard-bearer of the Nationalist People’s Coalition in 2010 national elections.“We are supporting the presidential bid of Senator Escudero. The decision of the group to back the senator is a product of a thorough and com-prehensive consultation among our members nationwide,” Magdalo spokesman Air Force 1st Lt. Francisco Ashley Acedillo told a news conference at the UP University Hotel in Quezon City.
The group’s announcement came three days before Escudero was supposed to declare his presidential plans.
Magdalo’s decision to support Escudero came to many as a surprise. Presidential hopefuls such as Sen. Manuel Villar of Nacionalista Party, Sen.
Benigno Simeon Aquino and former president Joseph Estrada have been courting Magdalo for its political support. Mr. Estrada, who has just set in motion his bid to recapture the presidency that he lost in 2001 to a civilian-backed military revolt, has even included in his Partido Ng Masang Pilipino’s senatorial slate the name of Magdalo leader detained Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim. Villar, for his part, included the name of Marine Col. Ariel Querubin in NP’s senatorial slate.
But detained Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, Magdalo party chairman, explained Magdalo’s decision to back Escudero’s presidential bid. “The next president should be capable of standing up for our countrymen to promote their interests and protect their rights. He should be a reformist determined to institute the needed change in our country, especially in government,” he said.
Trillanes added that Magdalo chose whom to support in the 2010 presidential race according to the following criteria: character, vision, leadership and must be a member of the political opposition.
Acedillo echoed the statements made by Trillanes as to the matter of consultation with almost 40,000 members of their group.
Acedillo said Escudero garnering 53.7 per cent of the votes cast by the party leaders or a 24.7 percentage points more over the party delegates’ second choice.
The delegates, Acedillo added, chose from a list of preferred candidates such as Estrada, Villar, and Aquino.
But Acedillo said the Magdalo group excluded administration presidential bet, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. from the list of choices because “he (Teodoro) made a statement that he will continue the policies of this administration. We have no business considering him because precisely, it is merely a continuation of the current dispensation which we want changed.”
In the same vein, Magdalo also set in motion the senatorial bids of Lim and Querubin as well as those of four other Magdalo leaders. Acedillo is seeking a congressional seat in Cebu City; Army Capt. Dante Langkit intends to run for legislative post in Kalinga province; Navy Lt. Sg. James Layug will run for second congressional district of Taguig City; and Marine Capt. Gary Alejano has just been endorsed as a mayoralty candidate in Sipalay city in Negros Occidental.
Informed of Magdalo’s decision to support his presidential bid, Escudero immediately issued a statement describing the Magdalo members as “patriots.”
“I am honored by the overwhelming support I have received from Samahang Magdalo, a group I consider to have consistently represented the people’s burning desire for change in our country,” Escudero said.
“To me they are patriots. Their love for this country is only paralleled by their passion for fighting for genuine reforms in government.
“I am very grateful to see that we still have a preponderance of men and women who are willing to sacrifice everything, even their life and liberty, for the greater good.
“Let me take this opportunity to also declare my unqualified support for Samahang Magdalo, its leaders and the ideals and principles the group stands for.
“We are no different from each other as I too advocate for change. With our new found unity, it is my fervent hope that we usher in a new brand of leadership in the country. One that will be more responsive to the needs of the people. One that will put an end to a cycle of corruption and exploitation.
“Again, I welcome the support of Samahang Magdalo and thank them sincerely for their trust and confidence in me,” said Escudero.
Meanwhile, Magdalo’s petition for accreditation as a political party is still pending at the Commission on Elections. “The Comelec Second Division has already heard the petition for registration of the group and is expected to come up with a decision in the coming weeks,” Trillanes said.
Magdalo boasts of having 40,000 members nationwide.
It first gained prominence after it staged a soldiers’ mutiny in 2003 at the posh Oakwood Apartments in Makati City wherein it called for the immediate resignation of President Arroyo owing to corruption issues surrounding her administration.
Lim and Querubin are presently detained, not because of the 2003 Oakwood mutiny, but because of another mutiny on February 2006.
Source: http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/20091026hed5.html
No comments:
Post a Comment