Roco: Palace behind rumors I’ll be Arroyo’s running mate

Former education secretary and presidential aspirant Raul Roco denied yesterday reports that he is willing to slide down to become the running mate of President Arroyo in the May 2004 elections.

Roco said such reports are unfounded and nothing more than mere propaganda by Malacañang.

"It can’t be. It’s only for their press release. It’s not true (sliding down to the vice presidency)," Roco said.

Roco said such reports were apparently cooked up by Palace spin doctors, specifically Mrs. Arroyo’s campaign spokesman Michael Defensor.

Roco said he is determined to push through his candidacy, adding "there is so much failure in the Arroyo administration that (he) could not turn (his) back on people who want to seek reforms in the government."

"There is so much failure in the government. The present government has already been ousted," he said.

Roco said he had already committed himself to pursue a change in the country’s leadership to prioritize programs against corruption, improvement of the country’s educational system and implementation of economic reforms once elected president.

"There is a national consensus that the government must be changed. The only issue now is who will replace (Mrs. Arroyo). It can be Roco, it can be (Sen. Panfilo) Lacson, FPJ (Poe) or anyone but definitely, the people want a new government," he said.

Roco earlier reiterated his intent to run for the presidency and said he will not accept a merger to run as Mrs. Arroyo’s running mate.

His statement drew the ire of some administration congressmen, who called on Roco to rise above his personal ambition and urged him to reconsider his decision to reject the offer to run as the President’s running mate.

Administration lawmakers and allies of Mrs. Arroyo pointed out that the latest surveys have shown Roco’s ratings have begun to drop, as he was overtaken by actor Fernando Poe Jr., while that of the President’s are improving.

Roco has shown consistent good ratings in the past surveys until Poe overtook him in the recent survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

In the survey released Dec. 3, SWS ranked Roco third behind movie actor Fernando Poe Jr. and former broadcaster-turned-senator Noli de Castro.

Defensor noted that Roco and the President, who landed fourth in the survey, were "almost even," given the survey’s margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

Roco, erstwhile member the Arroyo Cabinet, bolted the ruling People Power Coalition (PPC) last month to launch his presidential bid under Aksyon Demokratiko.

He blamed Mrs. Arroyo for abandoning the ideals of the PPC when she went on her own and announced her candidacy in the 2004 presidential elections.

Aksyon Demokratiko formed part of the PPC in the aftermath of the EDSA people power IIrevolt that deposed President Joseph Estrada and catapulted Mrs. Arroyo to the presidency in January 2001.

Aksyon then forged a political alliance with former PPC member-parties — Reporma of former defense secretary Renato de Villa and Promdi of former Cebu governor Lito Osmeña — to form a "third force" in the political scenery for the May 2004 general elections.

At a rally launching his presidential bid last Dec. 1, Roco even threatened to storm Malacañang with his followers if he is "cheated" in the next year’s polls.