BALER,
Aurora, December 30, 2012-Sen. Edgardo Angara has clarified that he didn’t chicken out of the
gubernatorial race in this province amid claims of his detractors that he was
afraid to lose, saying he would surely win the governorship but didn’t want to
be an absentee governor.
In a media briefing, Angara said he
was sure he would be elected governor if he didn’t back out of the race.
“Firstly, if I went on with my
gubernatorial bid, I would surely have won. For me to rule as a good governor,
I have to stay in Aurora and will be tied up here and would be unable to
fulfill my international commitments,” he said.
Angara made the clarification amid the
flood of reactions from a local social networking site claiming that he was
afraid of losing in a one-on-one face-off with incumbent Vice Gov. Gerardo
Noveras, the prohibitive underdog.
Members of the Aurora Family
Community, a vocal critic of the Angaras said the senator is making his supposed
international commitments as a “convenient excuse” to back out of the race
where they believe he is at risk of losing.
Some local political observers are also giving
Noveras more than an even chance of winning over Angara in the socalled “David
vs Goliath” match not only because of the vice governor’s “masa” image and his
being “kind” but also because of the solid Ilocano votes.
At least 60 percent of the voting
population in the province reportedly belongs to Ilocanos who consider Noveras
as their favorite son.
But Angara said he had no doubts he
would win. Then, in an obvious dig at Noveras, he said : “Ang totoong mabait ay
‘yung nakakatulong sa kapwa (One who is really kind is one who is able to help
his fellowmen).”
However, Angara reiterated that he had two
major international commitments, first as elected member of the International Executive Board ng Christian
Democrats International or Centrist Democratic International (CDI) and as
sponsoring head this month of the Anti-Corruption Conference of the Global
Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption.
Angara said he is the CDI’s Vice President for
Asia Pacific and he will be hosting an Executive Meeting in Manila either in May
or June.
Regarding the GOPAC, he said he expects 450
members of parliament all over the world as well as non government
organizations involved in anti-corruption programs to attend the conference.
“This is the only international body based in
Canada that is focused on anti-corruption measures. Right now, I am the Vice
Chairman of this and I just got back from Mexico and I have been asked by the
Executive Board if I’m prepared and willing to assume the leadership of this
international anti-corruption body immediately after the Manila Conference,” he
said.
A third reason, Angara said, is his active
role in the Angara Centre for Law and Economics, the international advisory
board who is composed of international economists and political scientists.
“This alone, not to count on my national
commitments and my local commitments, would really tie me down and I think it
is unfair for the people of Aurora that if I become governor, I will become an
absentee governor. I think that is not the style I pursued in my public life.
If I have a responsibility I assume, I would do it singularly unobstructed by
any undertaking except to do it in my work,” he said.
He said his decision was a family decision and
that he is confident that the man who substituted for him, Baler Mayor Arthur Angara
will get elected governor in his stead.
“He (Arthur) is the head of the Mayor’s League in Aurora who
has been, I think an outstanding mayor of Baler. He is an achiever.”
“I can support Aurora as well as the country
through this international organization and my work here in Manila, I think I
will do a better job of providing the back-up support to the people of Aurora,”
he added. (Manny Galvez)
