But takes swipe at Duterte, pandemic response
MANILA Mayor Isko Moreno yesterday formally launched his 2022 presidential bid under the Aksyon Demokratiko party, promising his would be a “healing presidency” although he criticized President Duterte and his government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Moreno, whose real name is Francisco Domagoso, was joined by his vice running mate, online personality and physician Willie Ong, at the launch at the Baseco Compound in Tondo, one of the poorest areas in Manila.
“Nakilala ninyo po akong tapat sa pamamahala at totoong pananalita (You have known me for my sincere leadership and straight talk.) Hard work and straight talk, whether it is about city projects or personal beliefs, I convey it with candor and I do not play coy. Real talk lang po palagi. (Always real talk),” he said as he asked Filipinos to accept his “application” for president.
He said he decided to seek the presidency because of the “horrible” situation the country is in, brought about by the national government’s failure to address the pandemic. He said other countries “apply best practices, scientific solutions but we, on the other hand, abuse our people as guinea pigs.” He said the government has imposed “the longest practice of quarantine” of 557 days, and “instead of flattening the curve, we are flattening the economy.”
Moreno also asked the electorate to beware of leaders who he said are fond of making jokes and telling lies, like not running for public office, saying they will continue to lie when elected. He was apparently referring to Duterte who said he was not running for president in 2016 but later agreed to be the PDP-Laban’s standard bearer.
Moreno said he and Ong alone cannot effect reforms. “Kailangan po namin kayo… Kailangan po natin ng pagkakaisa. Sama-sama natin gamutin ang bansa. Let us heal our country. I will be a healing president and my government would be a government of national reconstruction and reconciliation based on justice and rule of law,” he said.
He promised that his administration would be transparent and would not resort to using “manufactured opinions and false praises.”
“But when assaulted with lies, I believe that the truth, not the trolls, will set you free,” he said, taking another dig at Duterte whose government is accused of employing trolls.
LIFE STORY
Using his life story as proof that he can uplift the Filipinos from poverty, Moreno talked about his humble beginnings — as a garbage collector in Baseco where he said he learned early on that a “basurero (garbage collector)” like him would have to beg not just for food but also for respect from society.
He said he learned early that education, health, housing, and work are “off limits” to one who is poor. But he said he also learned that while poverty dehumanizes, it must not take one’s humanity.
Taking a swipe at Duterte, he also said: “Oo lumaki akong busabos pero di ako bastos.
Bagamat balot ako ng dumi, ni minsan di ko kailangang sabunin ang aking bibig at sa kalagitnaan ng paghihikahos, ni minsan di ako nagtampo sa Diyos. Di ko siya minura, di ko siya tinalikuran, at ang kanyang mga alagad ay di ko inalipusta (I grew up poor but I am not rude. Even if my body was dirty, not once did I begrudge God. I did not curse him nor did I turn my back on him and I did not insult his followers),” he said.
Moreno grew up in the slums. As a kid, he scrapped for leftover food in restaurants and collected junk to help his parents. At a funeral, he was spotted by a talent scout that launched his career in show business as a matinee idol, before shifting to action and other roles in the 1990s.
He was elected Manila mayor in 2019 after beating incumbent and deposed former President Joseph Estrada. He made an unsuccessful run for the Senate in 2016. As a first-term mayor in Manila, he launched a cleanup campaign in the capital, clearing busy thoroughfares once packed with street vendors.
Moreno said he “pulled myself out of the gutter with no one helping me.”
DOC WILLIE
Moreno said Ong’s expertise as a physician is sorely needed as the country continues to grapple with the pandemic.
Ong said he supports Moreno “100 percent.”
He also said he initially turned down the offer to run with Moreno but the mayor convinced him and said he could not be included in the party’s senatorial line-up.
Moreno endorsed Lacuna, also a physician, during the launch.
Lacuna is a daughter of the late Manila Vice Mayor Danny Lacuna, Moreno’s mentor when he was still a city councilor.
Lacuna also served as a city councilor from 2004 to 2013 before running for the vice mayoral post in the 2016 elections. She was reelected to the same post in the 2019 elections.
Prior to that, she worked in the city health office from 1995 to 2004.
Moreno’s campaign manager, Lito Banayo, said Ong was originally considered for Moreno’s senatorial slate and the first choice for vice president is Sen. Grace Poe.
Banayo told ABS-CBN News Channel Poe declined, maybe because of her family’s “personal relationship” with Senate President Vicente Sotto III who is also running for vice president.
He expressed confidence the electorate will go for the Moreno-Ong tandem.
“We think they would want a tandem now, probably seeing the tragedy that happened in the last five years between President Duterte and Vice President Leni Robredo,” he said.
Banayo also said he resigned as chair of the Manila Economic Cultural Office in Taipei because he could not support a political dynasty in the national level, apparently referring to the Dutertes.
“I cannot accept the principle that local dynasty can be superimposed at the national level,” Banayo said.
President Duterte has accepted the nomination of a faction of the PDP-Laan as vice presidential candidate, while his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, is believed to be running for the presidency despite her contrary pronouncements. — With Reuters
