BY SAMMY JULIAN
DESPITE a dismal showing in a recent nationwide survey on perceived presidential bets, the possibility of Interior Secretary Mar Roxas running for the highest office in the land in 2016 remains.
No amount of criticism for early campaigning in areas hardest-hit by super typhoon “Yolanda” in the Visayas region will dissuade Roxas’ push for Malacañang.
Not even negative reports about his two-month suspension at Wack Wack Golf and Country Club for berating employees over a guest’s green fee will make the Palace think twice about supporting the former senator.
As far as the people currently occupying the seat of government is concerned, as long as the numbers of President Benigno Aquino III in surveys remain high, there is a good chance that the administration’s “anointed one,” in this case Roxas, will be chosen from among the other presidential contenders.
The tone of President Aquino’s Labor Day speech is proof that the ruling Liberal Party (LP) relies heavily on the idea that the government’s achievements will redound to whoever is tapped to continue the agenda.
“My request to you: If you believe that what we are doing is right, if you don’t want what we’ve started on the straight and narrow path to go to waste, let’s pick a leader who will continue and further improve on the reforms we’ve made,” the President said. “Let’s pick someone deserving so that the transformations we want in our society will be permanent and wide-reaching.”
This is obvious enough.
The successes of Aquino and his consistently impressive trust ratings will pull Roxas to the top of the presidential heap – this the LP sincerely believes.
The recent statement made by LP official and Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad supports this.
According to Abad, who also served as spokesperson of the presidential campaign of Aquino in 2010, “continuity” will be a key in the next national elections.
The budget chief pointed out that President Aquino was actually pushed to run for president by the people.
Empirically, explained Abad, “if you go by his present approval and trust ratings, that relationship is pretty much there, and it will be very likely that in 2016. The people may go back to him and say, ‘Of course you can no longer run for a second term – who do you think is the best person to succeed you?’”
He further said that such trust has been maintained because of the “palpable benefits” felt by the people, and the numbers are “grounded on something concrete.”
Abad stressed that what is important for this administration is that 2016 is not a “business-as-usual” election.”
It’s an election wherein people have a stake, he said, and will then seriously think about who they will vote for.
That remains to be seen./PN
