Capiz guv did not attend meeting endorsing Teodoro
ROXAS CITY – Showing his loyalty to Sen. Mar Roxas who is a vocal critic of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Capiz Governor Victor Tanco, Sr. said that he did not attend the meeting with the president last Friday.
Tanco made the clarification after speculations crop up that he might defect from the Liberal Party of Sen. Mar Roxas after the latter withdrew his presidential bid to give way to Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.
Tanco said he was not able to immediately issue any statement to the local media as reaction to the withdrawal of Sen. Roxas to run for president because he lost his cellphone.
“I was not there in Manila to attend the invitation which later turned to be an endorsement of Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro to be the administration presidential standard bearer in 2010 election,” Tanco clarified.
According to him, he was in Cebu City to meet with Governor Gwen Garcia regarding the One-Visayas in which Capiz will be the host province.
Tanco added that he preferred not to attend the said meeting since he is a known ally of Sen. Roxas who is the president’s critic.
During the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) assembly last Friday, 49 out of 50 governors have endorsed Sec. Teodoro to be the administration presidential standard bearer.
The move by a group of governors endorsing the presidential candidacy of Teodoro shows that members of the administration coalition are getting impatient for the ruling Lakas-Kampi-CMD to choose a presidential standard-bearer for 2010, according to Mandaluyong Mayor Benhur Abalos.
Abalos, the president of the League of Cities of the Philippines, on Saturday joined the clamor within the ruling coalition to decide whether Teodoro or Vice President Noli de Castro should be the administration presidential candidate.
Meanwhile, Tanco said that he felt sad but proud of Sen. Mar Roxas’s move to have a supreme sacrifice for the sake of the nation and not his personal ambition.
The governor said that he will formally release a statement regarding the issue this week.