TACLOBAN CITY- An Waray party-list Rep.Florencio “Bem”
Noel said that despite the public spat that his group has figured with a
militant group backed by another party-list group, he is not holding
any rancor to them.
Noel made this statement hours after their officials decided to
resume the operations of their regional office based in the city last
Friday.
The three-day closure of the An Waray regional headquarters stemmed
from the group’s decision to temporary close their offices amid public
spat with the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Sinirangan Bisayas (Bayan-SB).
The militant group through its regional secretary-general Rogelio
Berino labeled the An Waray party-list group as “bogus” and sought for
its disqualification before the Commission on Elections on the May, 2013
elections.
The group of Berino belongs to the Bayan Muna, a party-list group
whose one of its representatives in Congress, Teddy Casino, is running
for senator under the Makabayan political party.
Rep. Noel said that while he understands as to why the group of
Berino is calling for its disqualification considering that they are
vying under the party-list system, they should also understand and
respect them.
He even said that he would still continue to support the senatorial
bid of Casino whom he said he considers as not only a colleague but a
friend.
“I believe that they belong to the marginalized sector. I believe on their advocacies..” Noel said.
Noel, who has filed his certificate of candidacy to run for mayor of
Tacloban, said that what he did was protect the interests of the An
Waray party-list group reason why he and other leaders of the group did
the drastic move of temporarily suspending their operations.
“It’s survival instinct. Do you want the An Waray out of the picture
in Region 8? I hope they understand where we’re coming from. They were
the ones who started this all,” Noel said.
He said that he has stood up to defend their group. Otherwise, the An
Waray might suffer the same fate with other party-list groups like the
Ako Bicol which was earlier disqualified by the Comelec but whose
decision was overruled by the Supreme Court.
In the same breath, Noel issued an appeal to their supporters, to
include the hundreds of people who visit their offices to seek various
assistances, as to what happened.
He noted that during their temporary absence in giving assistance,
the ordinary people all the more “appreciated” what An Waray has been
doing to help them.
“Our public service were more appreciated during this exercise and we
felt the impact of our absence,” the outgoing An Waray party-list solon
said.
Asked if their decision to temporarily shut down their operation as a
“childish” move as described by the Bayan, Noel said that everybody is
entitled to have such moment.
But Noel said that they have made their point against their critics.
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