Marañon Confident in Roxas Win in Negros

Last Wednesday, Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. revealed that he is sure Negros Occidental will be an overwhelming win for DILG Secretary Mar Roxas if he does run for president in the 2016 polls. He says that this was already evident in the 2010 elections. In that year’s election, Roxas, then running for VP, beat Jejomar Binay in the province and garnered over 571,155 votes. Binay’s tally was only a little shy of 180,000 votes while Loren Legarda had 85,048 votes.

The governor was also pleased with President Noynoy Aquino’s announcement that the DILG secretary is at the top of the presidential contenders backed by the administration. He also added that Roxas has accepted this and is keen on continuing the straight path set by the president.

Furthermore, Gov. Marañon also believes that the Negrosanons are happy with the announcement and says that it has heightened their morale. When asked why the immense support for Roxas, the governor said that this is because of his untainted record in the government. With regards to the low survey ratings of the DILG secretary, Gov. Marañon says that it’s nothing to worry about as he believes it will go up. He added that it’s better to move up from the bottom rather than the other way around. He relayed that there was one presidential contender who started at 71% that has decreased to 26% and is continually declining.

The governor has no doubts about the province’s support because he says the demographics of the electorate are different this time around. He says that voters now are young and educated and are likely to choose leaders that are devoted to service rather than thieves. He also highlighted Roxas’ projects which focus largely on the poor. “Who would you chose, a man who only projects himself as for the masses, over a man who delivers for the poor?” he asked.