‘Iggy came out too late’

CALASIAO, Pangasinan — Presidential wannabe Raul Roco said here yesterday First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo’s brother "may have invoked too late his right to privacy because he came out on his own and he was the one who attracted attention."

Roco made the remark when asked what he thought of the refusal of the First Gentleman’s brother, Ignacio, to answer questions from the Senate by invoking his right to privacy.

"What is the cause of the noise?" asked the former senator and education secretary. "Is it the Senate, the press or the one who admitted he is Jose Pidal?"

"If he (hadn’t claimed) he is Jose Pidal, there wouldn’t have been a story," Roco said. "He wasn’t included but he presented himself. Can you just play with the people? That is wrong. You cannot be a ‘half-virgin’."

He said he assumes that the Senate is doing what the senators believe to be good for the country.

"I can’t assume that they’re in bad faith (because) the probes are in ‘aid of legislation.’ It becomes only bad when it is in aid of election," he said.

Roco, who had declared earlier this year his plan to run for president next year, said it’s up to the Senate whether to continue the Senate hearing or not.

Based on his consultations in various provinces, Roco said people are concerned with the controversies hounding the Arroyo administration.

"People are concerned that the country is getting lost in direction and that is what the government must face up to," he said.

"There’s so (many) charges and counter charges. There’s no real directions for the Philippines. It is time that we focus on where the Philippines is going and how we will get there... That’s the challenge," Roco said.

Roco said "there is no stopping" his presidential bid next year.

"Many people have sacrificed and it wouldn’t be right to just abandon them," he said, saying that his Aksiyon Demkratiko party is already considering several names as his running mate.

He said the party is considering former Pangasinan governor Oscar Orbos, "one of the Osmeñas," Senator President Franklin Drilon and Senators Loren Legarda and Manuel Villar.

"I am not saying they will accept (the draft) but they would be good running mates. I think it will be one of them," he said, adding that his party would likely decide on the ticket by November.

Meanwhile, Malacañang admitted that its in-house pollster cannot yet determine the impact of the controversial Jose Pidal issue on the President or the First Gentleman but said it would likely be taken up in the next survey.

So far, the latest survey we saw was more on the aftermath of the July 27 mutiny. We have not seen any results on the Pidal controversy," Bunye said.

Reached by The STAR yesterday, Bunye said the President’s rating in the in-house survey was close to the results of the recent Pulse Asia survey.

"But the stand of the President on these surveys is that this is not the end-all or be-all of the decision making process," Bunye said.

"Although she consults the results, the final decision is not driven by any particular survey," he added. — With Eva Visperas, Marichu Villanueva