Poe forum not allowed in Roxas City school
ROXAS CITY – Independent presidential candidate Senator Grace Poe scored the administration’s supposed “Daang Matuwid” policy when she and her running mate Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero were allegedly barred from holding a consultation forum with students of a school in this city, the hometown and bailiwick of Liberal Party standard-bearer Manuel “Mar” Roxas II.
She declined to identify the school, saying it is not the fault of the school officials when she was
told that the event would not be held there. She said it has been a standard procedure for the Partido Galing at Puso to hold consultations with students whenever they visit a province.
“Basta hindi kami sa school. Hindi ko alam kung pati ‘yung sa mall, hindi tuloy. Kung saka-sakaling di natuloy doon sa paaralan na ‘yun, ito’y kadudaduda sapagkat SOP na namin ‘ yun. Marami naman din kaming napuntahang paaralan (I don’t know if that includes our meeting at a mall. If ever it would not be held at the school, this is suspicious because it’s been our SOP to have consultation with students and we’ve already been to many schools),” said Poe, during a press conference at the Lake House San Antonio Resort in Baybay.
Poe recalled that she experienced the same thing before when she was given only two minutes to talk to students in a certain school. The media who were supposed to cover the event were barred from entering the school’s premises.
It was learned that another dialogue event supposed to be held at a nearby mall was cancelled.
Her staff told her the reason why they cannot push through with the mall event: “May limitation daw sa mall; bawal magdala ng campaign materials... baka yun ang policy ng mall so igalang na lang natin.”
Daang Matuwid
“Ang Daang Matuwid hindi dapat pinapayagan ang ganyang mga bagay, (Those in the straight path are not supposed to allow those things to happen),” said Poe who flew to Roxas City after a successful campaign sortie in Iloilo.
“That’s why when we ask who should do better, it should not be monopolized by one particular group. When we mix it with politics we lose sight of our advocacies,” she said.
“My heart goes to the school officials and the students because they were not the ones who made the decision but they were in a bind,” she pointed out.
She said the administration should have taken advantage of her visit to the province, together with Escudero, to prove that their “Daang Matuwid” policy does not play favorites.
“This could have been an opportunity for them to show that their straight path policy is open to all and not only exclusive to some people. What is important is that the path we are taking is all about making a stand on what is right, what can help our people,” she said of the campaign of the Partido Galing at Puso.
Based on Poe’s itinerary for Capiz sent to reporters, Poe was scheduled to hold a forum with youth leaders at the CAP Development Center in Roxas City, Wednesday afternoon.