Cagayan Valley is Mar Roxas’ Waterloo

CAGAYAN, Philippines – The Liberal Party is putting special attention to the Cagayan Valley region for the 2016 elections because it is weak in this area, a Palace official said on Tuesday, August 18, during a meeting with politicians from 6 provinces.

Manuel Mamba, Presidential Legislative Liaison Officer, said President Benigno Aquino III assigned him as LP chairman in Cagayan Valley, which he said Aquino once described as the ruling party’s “Waterloo” since they suffered one of their biggest losses here in the 2010 and 2013 elections.

LP presidential bet Manuel “Mar” Roxas II lost to Vice President Jejomar Binay in the 2010 by more than 300,000 votes in 3 provinces in the region.

Binay had 649,279 votes in Cagayan, Isabela and Nueva Vizcaya compared to Roxas’s 313,313 votes in the 2010 elections.

In Isabela province alone, Roxas lost by more than 200,000 votes to Binay. The vice president’s mother is from Cabagan, Isabela.

Cagayan has a voting population of 664,040 while Isabela has 924,892, according to the latest official data.

‘Support for Mar, LP’

Mamba met with politicians from the provinces of Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Apayao, and Kalinga, to ask them to support Roxas and himself. Mamba is running for governor of Cagayan.

“This is the waterloo of Aquino and Mar Roxas. They lost heavily here in the last elections,” Mamba said, adding that Aquino lost to now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada by more than 13,000 votes and Roxas lost to Binay by 92,000, both in Cagayan province, during the 2010 elections.

“In fact, this is the problem area of LP for the coming election because we did not make good during the past elections,” Mamba said.

“With the blessings from Aquino, I think it’s time for discernment,” Mamba said.

“Because if we insist on supporting because kakulkulay tayu (we have the same color), Ibanag or Ilocano, haan kadi aya a ti number 1 plunderers tayu ket Ilokano ken Ibanag (Isn’t it that our number one plunderers are Ilokano and Ibanag?),” he said, referring to Binay and Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, who are facing plunder accusations.

Mamba is an estranged ally of Enrile, who is also from Cagayan. The province was one of the 15 hot spots in the 2013 elections. Mamba himself escaped an ambush during the May 2013 elections. – Rappler.com