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Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Isko Moreno should be disqualified from presidential run

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“Many issues hound this neophyte mayor.”

 

Manila Mayor and presidential candidate Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso should be disqualified.

Moreno is abusing his powers and prerogatives as city mayor of Manila.  Elected city mayor in 2019, Moreno is expected to do his job at city hall.  If he is to travel outside of his city on official time, it must be in relation to his duties as city mayor.  Anything outside of those parameters constitutes graft and corruption.

This neophyte city mayor, in office for a little more than two years, is so full of himself that he is now running for president.

Moreno enjoys the financial support of undisclosed oligarchs, as seen in his endless expensive pre-election television commercials promoting his image.

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The continuous television broadcasts of Moreno’s commercials cost hundreds of millions of pesos.  Moreno refuses to explain where he got the money for those commercials.  His salary as city mayor is not enough to shoulder those expenses.

That’s not all.

After Moreno announced his presidential run, Moreno has been busy campaigning nationwide.  His handlers refer to his many visits to the provinces as “listening trips” — a euphemism for partisan campaign sorties.

By my own tally, Moreno recently presided in an oath-taking ceremony of his supporters at the Quezon Circle in Quezon City, and in Pampanga.  He also attended the inauguration of the Mactan-Cordova Bridge in Cebu, and he visited Subic in Zambales to “listen to the people” there.

What involvement the City Mayor of Manila has in activities in Quezon City, Pampanga, Cebu and Zambales is a mystery.

The partisan nature of Moreno’s campaign sorties in those areas is confirmed by streamers extolling him, and subtle references to his being the next president of the Philippines.

Moreno’s partisan activities outside of the City of Manila took place on official time, and have absolutely nothing to do with his duties as city mayor.  Every time Moreno leaves Manila for his “listening” sorties in the provinces, Moreno is not in his office to perform his duties and responsibilities as city mayor.  While he is busy outside Manila, Moreno continues to draw his salary as Manila’s mayor.

That’s enough ground to file anti-graft charges against Moreno. Any taxpayer can file the anti-graft complaint in the Office of the Ombudsman.

Basic decency demands that if Moreno is going to be occupied with his campaign for the presidency, he should resign as city mayor so as not to prejudice the interests of the City of Manila and its people.

Apparently, Moreno does not understand the meaning of “decency.”

Observers suspect that Moreno refuses to resign his lofty post as city mayor because Moreno gets his campaign funds from big businessmen in Manila who need to be in the good graces of city hall in order to keep their trade viable.  City hall, after all, can make entrepreneurs endure a lot of hardship through permit requirements and other bureaucratic red tape.

Since Moreno’s aforesaid sorties outside of the City of Manila have absolutely nothing to do with his duties as city mayor of Manila, the inevitable conclusion is that Moreno is already campaigning outside of the authorized campaign period set under the Omnibus Election Code.  That is enough ground for a disqualification case against him before the Commission on Elections.

Other issues hound Moreno.

Aside from his suspicious refusal to explain the source of the money for his television commercials, there are complaints of ghost employees in city hall.

Also, Moreno has not explained his prime real estate acquisitions.  Many have noticed that the extent of Moreno’s wealth is in stark contrast to the way Moreno’s television advertisements portray Moreno as the poor boy from Tondo.

The national government has not lifted the requirement that people outdoors must wear a face shield, in addition to the mandatory face mask.  Moreno defied that requirement by directing that wearing face shields is not compulsory in Manila.

Moreno is not yet president, but he already behaves like a dictator with no regard for the rule of law.  His defiance of national health regulations is enough ground for the national government to take legal action against him.

Undoubtedly, Moreno is campaigning only on himself, and is drooling for the presidency.

Moreno’s vice presidential running mate is only for show, so that Moreno will not look like he is interested only in his personal political advantage.  Take note that Moreno’s running mate is a physician who could not even get himself elected to one of 12 seats at stake in the 2019 senatorial race.

Also, Moreno has only three senatorial candidates, one of whom lost miserably in the 2019 senatorial elections.  He probably conned them into running so that he will not look like an isolated presidential candidate, one with nobody on the political stage with him.

Moreno does not deserve to be president.

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