TACLOBAN CITY—The lack of senators coming from Eastern Visayas is a reason why the region continue to lag behind, according to a newly formed regional group here.
“Eastern Visayas has been deprived, by the fault or otherwise of being not represented in the Upper Chamber. This could have contributed to why our region is one if not the poorest in the country,” said Ray Junia, lead convenor of newly-formed Waray in the Senate Movement.
“Nobody in the Senate has actually championed the cause of our region, while other regions have many,” he added.
According to Junia, it surprising that nobody has won a Senate seat coming from Eastern Visayas when the Waray (locals from the region) “are supposed to be all over the country.”
“There are lots of us, the Waray, in Manila, Mindanao, and across the country. Even Davao mayor Rodrigo Duterte claimed as coming from Southern Leyte in the region, and even the mother of Manny Pacquiao, is a Waray,” Junia pointed out.
“So if we talk of numbers, yes we have the numbers,” Junia added.
In his analysis, Junia, who is also newspaper publisher, the reason why the region was not able to elect its own senator is because “nobody runs or attempts to run before that we considered winnable.”
“This time and in reports in national media we read interest of Energy Secretary and former Leyte governor Jericho ‘Icot’ Petilla in getting into the line-up of the administration party, and at the other end, our very good Leyte first district congressman Ferdinand Martin Romualdez.
According to Junia, the only problem now is how to push this into reality.
Back in the post-World War II era, the region had its first senator through the war hero Ruperto C. Kangleon of Macrohon, Southern Leyte.