CALBAYOG CITY—The Liberal Party’s standard bearer Manuel Roxas II on Monday denied the LP was responsible for an incident in which some party stalwarts in North Cotabato were seen bribing audiences with envelopes to cheer for him.
“I condemn these acts, and these are clearly not part of the straight path platform,” Roxas told reporters as he visited Samar on Monday.
“For us, these acts aren’t right,” he said.
“While I haven’t seen the video personally, we will investigate who are the organizers of this program and we maintain that these things should not be tolerated.”
But North Cotabato Rep. Jesus Sacdalan, who organized the rally, claimed that the envelopes were only a “joke” by the emcee, adding that he did not have any involvement with the proclamation rally that happened at the Pikit Municipal Gym on March 30.
“I just want to clear the issue on the video wherein the emcee threw jokes about the envelopes. There is no basis to these claims and these are not part of the rules that we follow. We do not engage in that kind of politics,” Sacdalan said.
In the two-minute viral video, however, the emcee, who led the chants, did give envelopes to the members of the audience—which supposedly contained money—to lure the disinterested crowd to chant the words “Oras na, Roxas na!” They would not be given envelopes if they didn’t cheer for Roxas.
“The chant is weak here, so you won’t get your envelope,” the emcee said in Filipino as he coached the crowd in Pikit, North Cotabato.
“It’s also weak in the back, so you won’t get your envelopes either.”
Roxas’ visit to Pikit town came days before the bloody dispersal of hungry farmers who were demanding government food aid amid a five-month drought brought about by the El Niño phenomenon in nearby Kidapawan City, North Cotabato, on April 1.
His spokesman said the ruling party had “zero tolerance” on the issue of the envelopes.
“Our instruction to the local organizers of these events is clear: we do not tolerate these things. We are investigating the truth behind this video,” Akbayan Rep. Barry Gutierrez said in a statement.
On Monday, Roxas started campaigning in Eastern Visayas, one of the areas badly hit by Super Typhoon “Yolanda” in 2013, banking on the endorsement of presidential sister Kris Aquino who accompanied him for the first time in the campaign.
“It’s not good that you’re asking for something, and then you won’t vote for Mar [Roxas,] right?” Aquino told the crowds who were asking for a hospital and expanded PhilHealth coverage in Calbayog City.
