Roxas confident of support from Tacloban voters

TACLOBAN CITY, Jan. 23 (PNA) - Liberal Party presidential bet Mar Roxas is optimistic that some residents here will support his candidacy despite what he described as "black propaganda" against him over post-Yolanda rehabilitation issues.

On Friday, Roxas toured the city’s public market here in his first public appearance here after a well-publicized rift with Mayor Alfred Romualdez.

The market was funded under Reconstruction Assistance on Yolanda (RAY) by the Department of Interior and Local Government, the agency previously headed by Roxas.

Roxas was with Leyte Governor Leopoldo Dominico Petilla when he arrived at the public market around 7 a.m.

His visit to the market was warmly welcomed by people at the public market and received some cheers when he arrived at the fish vendor section. He had short conversations with some of them.

When asked if this visit was a way to appease the people of Tacloban, Roxas said that "if they have issues against me, they will not approach me," said Roxas in a brief interview.

He vowed to continue helping those affected by super typhoon Yolanda in 2013.

"They saw that I am sincere with my job in giving services to them. I was here when Yolanda struck and we will continue to help them recover," he added.

The fish vendors section of Tacloban City Public Market was completed in May 2015, but the vendors were only allowed to use it Friday morning.

Councilor Neil Glova, committee on public market chairman, who was with Roxas, said that based in the public hearing he called for last week, the market superintendent cited issues like completion of list of fish vendors and failure of vendors to pay their fees as main reason why they were barred to use the facility.

Glova is running for mayor under Liberal Party, opposing to Councilor Cristina, the mayor’s wife.

Roxas personally turned over the fund for rehabilitation of the public market to Romualdez in 2014, their first meeting after their heated word war.

After Tacloban, Roxas made a short stop in Tanauan town where LP senatorial candidate Carlos Jericho Petilla joined him before heading to Burauen, Dulag and Javier towns to meet local government officials and civil society organizations. (PNA)

RMA/SQM/ROEL T. AMAZONA