Press Release
February 22, 2010

ROXAS: RIVAL SPREADING LIES

Senator Mar Roxas today expressed disgust over how his rival in the May 10 vice presidential race has stooped down to spreading lies about his legislative track record to prop her dropping pre-election survey figures.

Roxas, the Liberal Party vice presidential candidate, said it was pathetic that his rival preferred to spread disinformation about him instead of telling voters what she has done and what she intends to do.

It started with a disinformation on Roxas' role as primary author of the Cheaper Medicines Law and now has migrated to an attempt to discredit his brand as 'Mr. Palengke.'

"My rival started with a lie about me allegedly watering down the cheaper medicines law when in fact it was my rival who wanted the big pharmaceutical companies to be given a role in determining prices of essential medicines," Roxas said.

"Now, my rival is spreading lies that I did nothing to help my constituents in the public market sector," he added.

Contrary to this lie, Roxas asked Malacañang in 2004 to release P2 million each for the New Danao City Public Market and Mandaue City Public Market as financial assistance for public market renovation and improvement. Malacañang stopped releasing Roxas' PDAF for his constituents' projects after the Liberal Party, which he heads as President, parted ways with the Arroyo Administration because of the "Hello Garci" controversy.

Roxas also filed Senate Bill No. 2523, which proposed a five-year plan integrated approach to the development of public markets. It seeks to establish every public market as the primary foundation of Philippine trade and commerce through infrastructure improvements, micro-financing projects, institutional support programs and other support services for consumer protection.

In Cebu last Saturday, Roxas' rival staged a show wherein a public market vendor allegedly complained he did not fulfill his promise to rebuild the Carbon public market in Carbon district in Cebu City.

But Maria Pino-Buanghog, president of the Cebu City United Vendors Association and a councilwoman of Barangay Ermita, said the reason why the Carbon public market has yet to be rebuilt is because of problems with the project's contractor.

Buanghog said that after a fire damaged a large part of the Carbon market in 1998, the city presented a plan to construct a two-storey market building in the area with a budget of P253 million. Until now, however, the plan has not materialized because of lack of budget and some problems that the city had with the project's contractor.

"It must be my rival's extensive experience in manipulating information from her previous career that she's using to mislead voters," Roxas said.

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