Liberals pledge: ‘We will not steal’
Members of the Liberal Party, signaling their readiness to take over the reins of the government with their standard bearers leading all pre-election surveys for President and Vice-President, today pledged to strictly enforce a strong anti-corruption campaign by personally committing “not to steal” when in office.
Led by its torch-bearers, survey front runners Senators Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and Manuel “Mar” Roxas, LP members signed a “Manifesto of Hope” echoing Aquino’s pledge to clean government and improve public services if elected President.
The signing of the manifesto was made during the 64th founding anniversary of the Liberal Party, which was held at the historic Club Filipino in San Juan and attended by more than 700 LP candidates, including governors and mayors.
Invoking the memory of the late President Corazon Aquino, LP Chairman and former Senate President Franklin Drilon led the LP members and their guests in pledging to enforce the “Manifesto” which they said stemmed from their commitment to put in place a progressive, free and modern Philippines. The pledge comes a day after the nation marked the 77th birthday of the late President.
“Kami na nagbuklod ngayong umagang ito, ay sumusumpa sa Diyos at sa Taumbayan na patuloy na lalaban para makamit ang pag-asa ng bawat Pilipino para sa isang progresibo, malaya at maunlad na bansang Pilipinas (We who have gathered today pledge before God and our countrymen that we will fight to achieve every Filipino’s dream of a progressive, free and modern Philippines),” the LP said in its “Manifesto.”
“Sumusumpa kami gagawin namin ang tama, pahahalagahan ang katotohanan, at buong-puso at buong-talinong maglilingkod sa taumbayan. Sumusumpa kami na HINDING-HINDI KAMI MAGNANAKAW (We pledge to do what is right, make truth our priority and serve our people with all our heart and our minds. We pledge that WE WILL NEVER STEAL),” the LP members pledged.
The pledge not to steal when in office could be the first made formally and in signing by any political party since the Philippines put up a republican government.
Corruption has been an endemic problem of Philippine governments since its founding at the turn of the 20th century, and the Asian Development Bank and other financial institutions estimate that as much as 20 percent of the national budget – put at P1.5 trillion this year – could go to the pockets of corrupt officials.
Aquino, son of the former President, is running on a strong anti-corruption platform, boosted by his running mate Roxas’ decision to stop his own presidential ambitions in response to Filipinos’ clamor for a cleaner government because of widespread corruption under the current government of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
In his own campaign advertisement, Aquino pledged “not to steal” if elected President, the first to do so publicly amid charges of corruption against his opponents in the May 10 presidential elections.
Aquino, Roxas and Drilon spearheaded the signing of the Manifesto of Hope, along with other Liberal Party officials, among them LP Secretary General and Cavite Rep. Joseph E.A. Abaya, LP Treasurer and Quezon Gov. Rafael Nantes and LP Director General Jose Luis Martin “Chito” Gascon.
Others who signed the covenant were members of LP’s “People’s Reform” senatorial slate, among them Muntinlupa Rep. Ruffy Biazon, Bukidnon Rep. Teofisto “TG” Guingona, former Bukidnon Rep. Nereus ‘Neric” Acosta, Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel, former National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) chief Ralph Recto, Sonia Roco of Aksyon Demokratiko, detained Brig. Gen. Danny Lim, lawyer Alex Lacson, Dr. Martin Bautista and women’s right advocate Yasmin Busran Lao.
The Liberal Party has churned out three presidents – the late Presidents Manuel Roxas, Elpidio Quirino and Diosdado Macapagal - and a long list of reputable public leaders, among them the late Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, the late Sen. Gerry Roxas, and statesman former Senate President Jovito Salonga. It was founded in 1946 by the late President Manuel Roxas, grandfather of the Liberals’ vice presidential candidate, Sen. Mar Roxas.
