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LAKAS COUNTS ON MAYORS TO ENSURE UNITY VICTORY
by Jaime Pilapil
Manila Standard TODAY
May 03, 2007
Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats national spokesman Heherson Alvarez yesterday said that the administration’s 300 unopposed mayoralty candidates will ensure victory for Team Unity’s senatorial candidates.
“The opposition must not be surprised when we let loose the power of our democratic forces in the grassroots. That power is best exemplified by unopposed mayors now carrying the banner of Team Unity,” said Alvarez, a former senator.
He said nearly 300 unopposed mayors and those who have token opponents in both the city and municipal levels have banded together to push the candidacies of the administration’s senatorial aspirants.
“They account for nearly six million votes in communities where their unchallenged leadership will help ensure an overwhelming victory for the senatorial ticket of the administration,” he said.
He said senatorial bets Mike Defensor, Migz Zubiri, Prospero Pichay, Chavit Singson, Vic Magsaysay and Ed Angara have appealed most to local leaders who “want a Senate that is supportive of the government’s programs on economic and political reforms and genuine local autonomy.”
Latest surveys showed that four to six administration senatorial bets are consistently within the Magic 12 circle. But the others such as Defensor, Zubiri and Pichay are within the striking distance.
“The lack of a counter proposal by the opposition has created an opportunity to deliver a clear message for the anti-poverty and modernization program of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo,” said Alvarez.
He said the people understand that these are the same broad reform initiatives to be pursued in the remaining three years of the Arroyo administration especially in infrastructure development, agricultural productivity, investment opportunities and peace in Mindanao.
And the likes of Zubiri, Pichay, Defensor and even Magsaysay are well equiped with knowledge and skills to craft measures that will sustain the economic growth of the country.
Alvarez said that they want to sustain the dramatic turnaround in the economy, powered by such indicators as a strong peso, bullish stock market, lower debt servicing, surging dollar reserves and a lower budget deficit, among others.
Meanwhile, more than 150 barangay chairmen of Metro Manila’s vote-rich barangays openly declared their all-out support for Team Unity recently, even as the others harnessed the assistance of their barangay officials and leaders in conducting house-to-house campaign.
They represent one-half of more than five million registered voters of the National Capital Region who are dedicated to establish a new political paradigm for the country’s largest political region and seat of political power.
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