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Isko vows to be ‘healing president’; Ong praised

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Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso formally announced on Wednesday his bid for the presidency in the 2022 national elections with Dr. Willie Ong as his running mate under the Aksyon Demokratiko party.

Domagoso, who made the announcement at the city’s Baseco Housing project in Tondo district, said he would be a “healing president.”

“While ours will be a government of national reconstruction, it will also be a government of national reconciliation, based on justice and rule of law,” he said.

POLL BETS. Manila Mayor Francisco ‘Isko Moreno’ Domagoso (left) and Dr. Willie Ong on Wednesday announce their candidacy for president and vice president under the Aksyon Demokratiko banner in the 2022 elections at the Baseco Compound in Tondo, Manila. Norman Cruz
POLL BETS. Manila Mayor Francisco ‘Isko Moreno’ Domagoso (left) and Dr. Willie Ong on Wednesday announce their candidacy for president and vice president under the Aksyon Demokratiko banner in the 2022 elections at the Baseco Compound in Tondo, Manila. Norman Cruz

House Majority Leader Ferdinand Martin Romualdez on Wednesday welcomed the candidacy of Ong as the vice-presidential bet of Domagoso.

“Mayor Isko made an excellent choice in Dr. Ong as his running mate,” Romualdez said in a brief statement.

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Ong was a member of the Lakas Christian Muslim Democrats, of which Romualdez is president, but the doctor will formally join Domagoso’s Aksyon Demokratiko party next week.

“We are about to process his entry with the membership committee,” Aksyon Demokratiko secretary general Ernest Ramel Jr. told ABS-CBN News.

“We are just waiting for his official resignation with Lakas… We expect that by Monday he will be a member of the party,” Ramel added in a text message.

“I have known Dr. Willie, a close friend, as a decent man whose heart is in the right place,” Romualdez added.

“(Ong) truly cares for his fellowmen, and he has never wavered in his quest for a good government responsive to the needs of Filipinos,” the solon added of Lakas-CMD’s incumbent Vice President for Health Services.

He wished both Ong and Domagoso good luck in their quest for national government positions.

Ong placed 18th out of 62 candidates in the 2019 senatorial elections, getting more votes that former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, high profile elections lawyer Romulo Macalintal, and media personality Jiggy Manicad.

Domagoso, on the other hand, beat former President Joseph Estrada in the mayoral race in Manila during the same polls.

If given the chance to lead the country, the former movie actor promised to apply an open governance policy by accepting suggestions from all sectors.

Saying he would be open to criticisms, he promised to listen to the public to craft better policies and provide improved services.

Domagoso is the third politician to announce his presidential bid. The first two were Senators Panfilo Lacson and Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao.

In the same event, Ong said he initially did not intend to run for any public office and even rejected the offer to run for the second highest post in the land but was eventually convinced by Domagoso.

“This is not in my plan. I was just here, silent and helping. But then, many coincidences happened,” Ong said.

The coronavirus pandemic and the current situation of the health system prompted Ong to decide and run for next year’s polls.

Once elected, he promised to improve the health system and the plight of health workers.

Domagoso said more announcements would be made in the days to come.

“I will release the platform of our governance. Yes, they are grand, but I assure you they are also granular. Many of them have been pilot tested in the city of Manila,” he said. 

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