Roco nag-back out?

**kuroy** · April 14th, 2004 08:49 AM

yap...nagkausap na daw si ping and si fpj.

malamang magbigay talaga si ping

**zero** · April 14th, 2004 08:55 AM

Ping won't withdraw, i'm sure of that.
Baka kukuha lang ng blessings kay Uncle Sam si Roco. Nasira ang pagtingin ni Bush kay GMA sa pagpuga ng mga Abu sa Basilan.

**IceColdBeer** · April 14th, 2004 08:58 AM

May sakit ngang prostate cancer si Roco, matagal ng issue yan bago pa sya nagdeclare ng kanyang candidacy.

**nap123** · April 14th, 2004 09:10 AM

GMA will win for sure

**ssaloon** · April 14th, 2004 10:40 AM

Originally posted by Monseratto
Kaya gusto ng KNP kay Ping dahil sa malaking donations nakuha niya galing sa Tsinoy community. Wala nakuhang donations si FPJ nung pumunta sa Chinatown 2 weeks ago. Wala mapangako sa kanila.

wala syang mapangako....PERIOD!

**gretzy** · April 14th, 2004 10:45 AM

i would still vote for roco, he assured the people naman that his illness is not life threatening, he can still do his functions if he will win

**wrecker** · April 14th, 2004 02:37 PM

kahit sino wag lang si FPJ and Ping!

**mantoy** · April 14th, 2004 04:55 PM

Crushed hopes
inq7.net Editorial
Apr 14, 2004

FOR all intents and purposes, Raul Roco's quest for the presidency has come to an end. On Tuesday he announced that due to an illness that could be debilitating, he was backing out of the campaign. Although he remains officially a candidate, the dreams of his Alliance of Hope are now crushed.

Roco in 1998 and in 2004 was heir to a tradition of reformist outsiders trying to break the iron grip that political machinery has held on our politics for generations. His candidacy was an attempt to inject middle-class values into a political system infected by the cynicism of the elite and the patronage-based expectations of the masses. Like Claro M. Recto, Manuel Manahan and Raul Manglapus before him, he seized the imagination of reformist members of the elite, of a large portion of the middle class, and a great segment of the youth. But before he could even begin to fight, the expectations of the many-that success requires money and machinery-had already defeated the chances of the few.

Supporters of Roco had hoped to prove that idealism requires no compromise, that competence needs no apology and that seeking excellence is its own reward. It is easy, at this point, to believe that what has been proven, instead, is that for the majority of Filipinos, idealism equals being naive, that competence is irrelevant, and that the rules are not made to be broken in our political system.

This is not so. If there is a lesson to be learned, this early, from Roco's candidacy, it is that idealism remains a motivating factor for a significant portion of our voting population, and that even an unsuccessful bid for the presidency can have a tangible impact on our political system.

Roco's campaign was run with sophistication and a dedication to the issues. It was a yearning for a candidate who would decline to appeal to mere popularity, and who would, instead, offer something more substantial that brought the young and many talented professionals into the Roco camp in the first place. Having gotten on their feet and gone into the hustings, the youth and young professionals in the Roco campaign have learned many hard lessons. Almost certainly, the experience has given them a greater appreciation of the hard and harsh realities of Philippine life: how our society is thoroughly dominated, from top to bottom, by a cynical and ruthless political system.

Having seen the reality, those who are for Roco must surely realize their aspirations go beyond one leader's ambition to lead. Their candidate may have abandoned the field to save his life, but their own political lives have just begun.

Where do a leader's responsibilities to his followers lie in a case like this? Roco, who anchored his candidacy on integrity and honesty, cannot just go for a face-saving gesture now while leaving his followers hanging. Having put up a good fight, he may fear it would disappoint his followers for him to throw in the towel. Perhaps it would be so, if his candidacy were only about Raul Roco and nothing else; if his candidacy were only about his ambition, then it might be preferable to go down to defeat in absentia.

Roco owes it to his supporters to do them one final service: to take the last step of formally putting an end to his candidacy altogether. Having declared himself morally and intellectually fit for office, he must be honest enough to admit now that his health crisis makes him physically unfit for the presidency. There is no shame in admitting this; but there is some mental dishonesty involved in saying he is abandoning the campaign, but remaining a candidate. One who is not fit to withstand the rigors of the campaign cannot be expected to handle ably the more taxing demands of the presidency.

The presidential campaign is not just about who will win on May 10, but rather about the direction this country will take over the next six years. Roco's supporters are now faced with a tough choice: whether or not, having gone this far, they will vote for him out of loyalty and as a form of protest, or turn around and vote for someone else who is still firmly in the race. We do not know what the individual Roco supporters will choose to do. We do know, that there remains a gigantic opportunity for Roco and his followers to seize. And that is, to keep themselves organized in order to play an important role in the political events that lie ahead.

**pajerokid** · April 14th, 2004 05:36 PM

Its nothing short of a withdrawal.... kahiyaan nalang.

GMA will be the beneficiary of this event. of the 12 votes per 100 going to Roco, 4 will go to GMA, 2 to Lacson, 2 to FPJ, 1 to Villanueva while the rest are undecided.

Buti pa si Roco.... its not bad to pull out when you know the battle you're fighting cant be won. In fact, I find it gentlemanly.

Dapat hindi magwithdraw si Ping.... he'll just increase the FPJ votes if he does.

**shadow** · April 14th, 2004 11:56 PM

kaya iboto na natin si eddie gil!!!! at least siya kahit na disqualify tinutuloy ang laban, di katulad ni roco legit contender umaatras naman sa gitna....

vote eddie gil!!!!

ICB,

hinde daw prostate magaling na daw yun sabi niya sa isang interview, "back pain" daw pero hinde daw alam ng mga doctor dito kung ano ang tawag kaya kailagna pumunta sa US para magkaroon ng tawag..sabi niya sa interview niya sa ch. 7,

wily politician talaga yan, kesa nga naman wala siyang mabawing pera pag tinuloy niya yun laban, obviuosly matatalo rin siya eh di mag back out na ngayon at least na re-imbursed pa niya yun mga gastos kay GMA,

kaya vote eddie gil!!!!

joke joke joke