SONIA ROCO

ROCO: A NATION THAT READS, A NATION THAT WRITES

2010-02-09T15:34:00.000+08:00

Concepcion, Tarlac - Sonia Roco, the widow of former Senator and DepEd Secretary Raul Roco and LP senatorial candidate, has renewed her commitment to continue the legacy of her husband. She made this announcement as she embarked on the first day of the campaign together with Liberal Party standard-bearer Noynoy Aquino, VP candidate Mar Roxas and the rest of the LP Senate slate.

“Raul Roco’s last message to every Filipino is to ‘spread the seeds’. The seeds have been sown. We hope that these seeds continue to be nurtured and will now bear meaningful, positive fruits for our famished nation.” Sonia Roco, also called Inang Guro, addressed the crowd in Tarlac, the hometown of Aquinos.

She added that she will continue the legacy left by her husband as a champion of education and reform. “Ang kapakanan ng mga mag-aaral at mga guro ang pangunahing plataporma ni Raul sa huli nyang katungkulan. Ipagpapatuloy natin ang adhikaing maging mulat ang lahat, nagbabasa’t nagsusulat.” (Upholding the welfare of students and teachers has been the foremost platform of Raul in his last stint as a public servant. We will pursue the goal of a conscious and enlightened citizenry. A nation that reads. A nation that writes.)

“I embark on this campaign on the same platform of hope. I will fight for and continue to stand for honest governance, education for all and equal opportunities for everyone, the same ideals which Raul had fought for when he was still alive.” she added.

She ended by re-affirming her belief in the goodness of the Filipino. “This 2010, the Filipino will finally elect a decent leader in the person of Noynoy Aquino. We missed our chances in past elections, we cannot afford to choose a deceitful candidate too desperate to buy his way into the presidency.”

Sonia Roco is the Chairperson of Aksyon Demokratiko, the political party founded by her late husband.

ROCO TO VILLAR: DISCLOSE TALENT FEES OF PAID CELEBRITIES AND TV SHOWS

2010-02-09T03:42:00.000+08:00

Metro Manila – Sonia Roco, the wife of former Senator and DepEd Secretary Raul Roco and LP senatorial candidate, has called on presidential candidate Manny Villar to fully disclose the talent fees he is paying the celebrities endorsing him. This call came at the heels of a report that Villar is the top 14th ad spender at P543M in the last quarter of 2009, beating several other known consumer brands including biscuits and shampoos.

Roco quipped “Katakut-takot na pera ang sinusunog niya upang mapa-air ang kanyang mga ads. Magkano ba talaga ang kanyang binabayad sa mga mamahaling talents na ito? Kung meron, please divulge and be transparent.” (He is spending indecent amounts of money to air his ads. How much is he paying for these expensive talents? If true, he should divulge this and be transparent.)

“May pa-gimmick pa siya sa isang noontime TV show at confirmed na si Sarah Geronimo naman ang susunod niyang bayad na endorser. Habang naiintindihan namin na kailangan lang maghanapbuhay ng mga artista at kumita ang mga tv shows na ito, marapat lamang na ibunyag kung magkano ba ang kanyang ginagastos upang ito’y masuri ng COMELEC at ng BIR.” she added. (He has these gimmicks in noontime shows and now has Sarah Geronimo as another paid endorser. While we understand that these talents and shows are just trying to make a living, it is proper to have these fees fully disclosed so it can be looked into by both COMELEC and BIR)

Manny Villar is openly endorsed by Willie Revillame, Michael V., Dolphy and now Sarah Geronimo. He is also sponsoring a segment in Eat Bulaga, a noontime TV show which gives away a cash prize of P25,000 daily.

Roco stressed that while full disclosure and reports on campaign spending are expected only after the elections, it would be good to pursue having these regularly reported before and during the campaign period. She added that there are several deficient areas in our electoral laws including the rules on campaigning and pre-campaigning. “Overspending during the official campaign period is illegal. Overspending before it is both immoral and unethical.” she ended.

Sonia Roco for Senator Movement Headquarters
2nd and 3rd Floors, 329 F, Katipunan Road, Brgy. Loyola Heights, Quezon City (Beside Bo’s Coffee)
Tel No. (63) 2 986-4466 Email Address: aksyonkabataan@gmail.com
Secretariat (Lian Halili): 0917-5160728 Liaison (Bobbit Roco): 0917-8191432
For interviews with Sonia Roco, contact: 0918-9059999
Press Release
February 8, 2010

ROCO KAY VILLAR: MAGKANO BINABAYAD MO SA MGA ENDORSERS?

Metro Manila – Sonia Roco, ang asawa ng dating Senador at Kalihim ng DepEd na si Raul Roco at ngayo’y candidate sa pagka-senador, ay nanawagan kay presidential candidate Manny Villar na ibunyag kung magkano ang kanyang binabayad sa mga artistang nag-eendorso sa kanya. Ang panawagang ito ay kasunod ng mga ulat na lumabas na pang 14th na pinakamalaking ad spender si Manny Villar at umaabot na sa P543M ang kanyang ginastos noong huling quarter ng 2009 – higit na mas malaki pa kaysa ginastos ng mga companya ng beer, biscuits at shampoos.

Ani Roco “Katakut-takot na pera ang sinusunog niya upang mapa-air ang kanyang mga ads. Magkano ba talaga ang kanyang binabayad sa mga mamahaling talents na ito? Kung meron, please divulge and be transparent.”

“May pa-gimmick pa siya sa isang noontime TV show at confirmed na si Sarah Geronimo naman ang susunod niyang bayad na endorser. Habang naiintindihan namin na kailangan lang maghanapbuhay ng mga artista at kumita ang mga tv shows na ito, marapat lamang na ibunyag kung magkano ba ang kanyang ginagastos upang ito’y masuri ng COMELEC at ng BIR.” pandagdag ni Roco.

Si Manny Villar ay bukas na iniendorso nina Willie Revillame, Michael V., Dolphy at ngayon Sarah Geronimo. Siya ay nagsposponsor din ng isang segment sa Eat Bulaga, isang noontime TV show at namimigay diumano ng cash prize na P25,000 bawat araw.

Sinabi ni Roco na habang ang pagrireport sa mga ginagastos ng isang kandidato ay isusumite lamang pagkatapos ng halalan, mas mainam na malaman ng publiko bago at sa kalagitnaan ng kampanya kung magkano na ang nagagastos ng isang kandidato. Dinagdag ni Roco na marami ngang mga repormang kailangang ihabla para mabago ang ating sistema ng pangangampanya. “Overspending sa panahon ng official campaign period ay illegal. Overspending bago nito ay imoral at unethical.” panghuling dagdag ni Roco.

Roco to GMA: Unlike Cory, you cheapened EDSA

2010-01-20T14:59:00.000+08:00

“GMA will go down in history as the beneficiary who betrayed the spirit of EDSA – ang traydor ng EDSA!” Sonia Roco, a Liberal Party-Aksyon Demokratiko senatorial candidate and widow of the late Senator and DepEd Secretary Raul Roco, minced fighting words when she spoke against the iniquities of the current administration on the eve of EDSA Dos anniversary.

“She leaves a legacy of a hungry and mis-educated electorate cynical and sceptical of their leaders. The spirit of EDSA is one that pursues the ideals of truth, justice, democracy and unity – all of which she has consciously stifled in her term. And for this, her term will go down as an insult and mockery to the ideals of the thousands of youth and masses who trooped to EDSA and lodged her into power.”

“Because of GMA, several people find little reason to celebrate EDSA Dos. But I beseech the people, especially the youth, to continue to live by the ideals of EDSA Dos even if its foremost beneficiary has not done so.”

Asked further if she had a personal message to the president who ran and won against her husband in the 2004 presidential elections, the educator who dubs herself Inang Guro shared these strong words:

“You have spent millions in lavish dinners abroad and have acquired more personal properties in your reign. Paano ka ba noon, bakit sobrang mas mayaman ka na ngayon?

A recent SWS survey revealed a despicable state of our people when we reached the 24 percent threshold of people who find themselves hungry under your term. Ganito tayo noon, bakit mas gutom na tayo ngayon?

You have become so inebriated with power that you cling to it at all cost, short of selling your soul to the devil. That is why, after the May elections, Pangulo ka noon, bakit Congresswoman ka na naman ngayon?”

“The last public pronouncements of my husband, the late Senator Roco, was a clamor for you to resign. Even if we reach the last day of your term this June, I will continue the same battlecry: GMA Resign! This is the right thing to do. And no amount of advertisements and bogus statistics will ever convince your people that they are better off because of your term.”

Theres The Rub: The writing in the wind

2010-01-19T18:31:00.000+08:00

By Conrado de Quiros
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:19:00 01/19/2010

The one who’s bound to have absolute sympathy, and empathy for the victims of the Haiti earthquake is Sonia Roco, an LP senatorial candidate. She knows what it means to be pinned underneath the rubble for more than 24 hours, hoping against hope to be rescued but fearing the worst. She knows the experience of living death.

Sonia was one of those who went through the ordeal of being buried alive when the Hotel Nevada in Baguio was struck down by a killer earthquake in July 1990. She was there for an NGO conference sponsored by USAID when the room swayed violently and everything went black. It was sudden, Sonia recalled. One moment they were lining up before a buffet table for merienda bantering about, the next it was pitch dark. She didn’t have time to go for her handbag, which was her reflex action before the lights went out.

I leave Sonia to tell her story in detail. I do hope she does in her sorties. It is a gripping, and inspiring, story of death and resurrection. Suffice it to say here that it was traumatizing, made all the more so by her bilas, Peachie, the wife of Raul Roco’s brother Cho, dying there along with many others. Peachie was hunched over a table and her feet pressed tightly over something. That was how she described it to Sonia soon after the building caved in. She was in great pain, which she bore for 12 hours before giving in. Her last words were: “Son, I can’t take it anymore. My legs are numb. I’m so tired.”

I can only hope Sonia recollects that milestone in her life this July as a senator. She herself says the experience gave her a resolve to give back to the world for the life she got for herself that day, or night, or womb-tomb of time. I believe her. Experiences like that have been known to make people kinder.

But even without experiencing that, your mind must reel from the spectacle of torment left behind by the earthquake that struck Haiti. The buildings torn down like they were made of matchsticks, the mountain of litter and the stench of the dead, the keening and howling and rioting rending the air and earth of that land. As if that country wasn’t already ground down by mind-boggling poverty. That is the face of hell on earth.

Your heart goes out to the people, but your mind also seethes at the recollection of the failed Copenhagen Summit, a meeting gathered to save the planet but which produced nothing of consequence. Certainly nothing that binds the countries, the United States and China, in particular, the two biggest polluters of the earth, to meeting definite targets. The summit of course could have done nothing to prevent the mother of all tremors from flattening Haiti, but it could have prevented more cataclysms of this sort from happening over the next several years. Or lessened the extent of their ferocity.

Does anybody really need any more terrifying proof of a dying planet? Of course more violent earthquakes have shaken the earth in the past. We ourselves have had a couple of them in the last half of the 20th century, the one in 1968, which turned the Ruby Towers into dust, and the one in 1990, which turned a great deal of Baguio into the same state. But at no time have they happened with numbing frequency and severity, alongside other epic disasters, some of them coming completely unexpectedly. It is no small irony that the countries that have resisted efforts at reducing carbon emissions, the United States and China, have themselves been hit by violent cataclysms. Sichuan was hit by an exceptionally murderous earthquake in 2008.

Shortly before the Haiti earthquake, a blizzard blanketed parts of the US east coast in snow and fog, causing a whiteout (visibility zero) in many places. Before that, there was a whole train of natural disasters, from hurricane to superstorms howling across the Pacific to floodwaters inundating, of all places, Jeddah in November last year (worst flooding in a decade, the product of twice the amount of rainfall in a year). Some years in the more distant past have seen more violent cataclysms, but nothing like the cumulative, sustained and accelerating incidences of cataclysms happening today.

The real worry is not that we might suffer the same fate as Haiti, or be hit again by an earthquake the size of 1968 and 1990. The real worry is that we might be hit by other types of disasters we never thought could hit us. Not unlike “Ondoy” which came out of nowhere and wrought the devastation it did. Floods we can alleviate by clearing esteros (creeks) and other waterways. Other forms of disasters there’s precious little we can do about. Short of a global effort to prevent them from taking place in the first place.

That’s the part where you get incensed by the results of the Copenhagen Summit and see the need for continuing protests from the citizens of the planet to compel their leaders to save the planet. If you can’t do it for yourself, do it for your children.

I don’t know if the Mayan prediction about 2012 being the end of the world will come true. But I do know that if we do not heed the writing in the wind or the stones, it will happen as surely as the setting of the sun. If not in 2012, at least not far from that. It won’t be from an asteroid hitting the earth or a solar flare burning the planet to a crisp. It will be from human folly. It will be from Earth’s most powerful leaders being entombed under the rubble of self-interest and greed, unable to see anything, hear anything, feel anything, and, quite unlike the victims of earthquakes who are pinned underneath, not particularly caring to see the light of day again. For them—or for us, unless we change their minds or them themselves if their minds cannot be changed—the writing on the wall will read:

You have been judged, and found stupid.

Aksyon Demokratiko, Roco's Party, Swears in Local Candidates

2010-01-07T23:05:00.004+08:00

Aksyon Demokratiko, the national political party founded by the late Senator and DepEd Secretary Raul Roco, and now headed by its Chairperson, Sonia Roco, swore into the party local candidates from different provinces and cities. The oath-taking took place last November 28 in Club Filipino.

“We are happy to welcome these reform-minded and action-oriented truth warriors into the folds of Aksyon Demokratiko. Aksyon has always been in the forefront in the crusade for change and was one of the first to entreat Senator Noynoy to run for President. Before we took them into the party, other than supporting Aksyon’s principles, we also had to make sure that they would be supporting Noynoy Aquino for the presidency all the way. “ said Mrs. Roco, who is also the Senate candidate of Aksyon for next year’s elections under the slate of the Noy-Mar tandem.

“Aksyon’s vision is a creative people in a self-reliant nation united under God. We all hope that you and the constituency you represent will carry the cudgels for the people and work diligently towards Aksyon’s vision for the people. “ she added while addressing the local candidates.

On November 27, Aksyon Demokratiko, represented by Mrs. Roco signed a coalition agreement with the Liberal party thru its party president Mar Roxas and witnessed by LP’s standard bearer, Noynoy Aquino.

One of those sworn into the party is Sr. Superintendent Cezar Mancao, the whistle blower and witness to the Dacer-Corbito murder case which allegedly implicates Sen. Panfilo Lacson and former President Joseph Estrada. He is running for a seat in Congress in Compostela Valley.

Others running under the banner of Aksyon is Oscar Robes who is running for Congressman in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan. Mayor Pedro Cuerpo of Rodriguez, Rizal is now running for Governor for Rizal. Together with Cuerpo is Alberto Carasco running for mayor of Rodriguez, Rizal.

Bibot Domingo – former Vice-Mayor of Mandaluyong, has been appointed Chairperson of Aksyon for Mandaluyong while his sister, Angelyn Domingo-Buan is running for Mayor with a full slate for the city council. Cyrus Lanot, La Rainne Sarmiento and Kristine Macatlang are all running for City Council in the 4th District of Quezon City. Edmund Dante Janda will also be running for Congress for the 2nd District of Oriental Mindoro Other candidates for various provinces and cities such as Naga City, Camarines Sur, Leyte, Pampanga, Ilocos Sur,Occidental Mindoro and Bulacan have also been sworn in.

Hermie Aquino and Boji Cabochan, the party’s Secretary-General and Political Liaison respectively, both averred that it is important that all candidates sworn in will adhere to the party’s principles which have been fought for consistently by Raul Roco and now carried on by Sonia Roco, Aksyon, and the various sectors such as the youth and women.

Statement of Sonia Roco on the detention of Bayan Muna members in Cebu

2007-04-21T17:31:00.000+08:00

The detention of two Bayan Muna and Kabataan members in Cebu serves as an undeserved appetizer that paves the way for the full implementation of the Human Security Act or otherwise known as Anti-Terrorism Law.

Ito ay isa lamang patikim sa uri ng panggigipit at pag-aalipusta na laban sa karapatang pantao ng ating mga mamamayan. I repeat what I said when the bill was passed last February: “Forgive them for they do not know what they do.”

They did this to these two victims allegedly with a warrant of arrest. With the Human Security Act of 2007 in full swing by June, they can do this to more unwilling victims even without a warrant of arrest. On a mere suspicion, hint or hearsay, any one of us could be suspects, detained for three days and be subjected to the same inhuman treatment reminiscent of the martial law era.

This incident and the Anti-Terror bill is an affront to our democratic ideals and serves as an ignominious reminder of how we have reneged on the several international human rights pacts we have signed. As the oldest republic in Asia , we should act as the most mature one. What with the spate of extra-judicial killings and incidents like this, we are losing our grip on the very democratic foundations that would have defined us as a mature nation

Sonia Roco leads 'green' candidates

2007-04-13T20:58:00.000+08:00

By TJ Burgonio, Inquirer.net 04/13/2007 (excerpt)

MANILA, Philippines -- This is one survey where she appears to be leading the pack. By articulating clearly her position on a wide range of environmental issues, Sonia Roco is a "pleasant surprise'' to green groups conducting an informal survey of senatorial candidates and their ecological agenda.

"Sonia Roco, for example, is a neophyte candidate, but we were pleasantly surprised by the quality and depth of her responses,'' Greenpeace campaigns director Von Hernandez said in an interview.

It was a sign, he added, that the Genuine Opposition candidate and her team had "put some serious thinking'' to the issues.

Greenpeace, the EcoWaste Coalition, and other green groups had put forward questions on climate change, energy, water, solid waste, toxic waste trade, and genetically modified organisms (GMOs), among others, to the senatorial candidates. They also asked the candidates to present their agenda.

They call this the Green Environment Initiative.

All four women candidates -- Roco and former Senators Nikki Coseteng, Loren Legarda and Tessie Aquino-Oreta -- responded. Unfortunately, they were only among the 18 out of the 37 candidates who did so.

The groups are still evaluating the candidates' views, positions and track record on environmental protection, and will announce the "green candidates'' on Friday next week in time for the following Sunday's celebration of Earth Day.

EcoWaste secretary Manny Calonzo said that Roco was among the few candidates who clearly elucidated her opposition to the controversial Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA).

"She thinks that it's a lopsided agreement that will only benefit Japan. Second, the agreement raises legal and constitutional questions, and third, it's anti-environment,'' he said, quoting her views.

"She's very clear with her position. I think that's very much appreciated by environmental groups who are opposed to this agreement.''

JPEPA, which was submitted to the Senate for ratification, last year raised a howl of protest and met stiff opposition from environmentalists because it provided zero tariff for toxic wastes.

Hernandez said that Roco's clear position on climate change and GMO, among other issues, reminded them of her husband, the late Senator Raul Roco, who emerged No. 1 in the environmental survey among presidential aspirants in 2004.

"Her positions on GMOs, waste issue, climate change remind us of the positions similarly articulated by the late senator Roco,'' he said.

The groups said Roco has the "potential of becoming a people's environmental champion'' in the upper chamber. They, however, stressed that this was merely their initial assessment of the candidates' responses to the survey.

Still NO to legalized Jueteng

2007-04-13T11:42:00.000+08:00

Hard work is better than luck, said Senatorial Candidate Sonia Roco, as she reaffirmed her objection to legalizing jueteng at the ANC’s televised debate on Wednesday evening.

Journalist Che-Che Lazaro, a member of the panel that interviewed the candidates in that forum, sought Mrs. Roco’s stand on “the proposal to do a Las Vegas-type gambling and entertainment complex in the Philippines.”

“It’s been there, culturally, for a long time, but to legalize jueteng would really be saying that we give value to games of chance,” answered Mrs. Roco. “And this will weaken the moral system of our children, especially, because they will now begin to count on luck instead of hard work. The value we’re trying to teach is that you work and that you earn by the sweat of your brow. But if you’re going to put games and gambling, then people who don’t even earn will go to the casino, hoping they will win, and it’s going to spoil the value system. So I’m opposed to it.”

As for the “economic value” of legalizing jueteng, “money is just money,” Mrs. Roco said. “But there are many occasions where I see that, even without money, you can get a lot of things done. Region 8, for example, is one of the poorest regions we have. But they’ve always topped the National Achievement Test for the past three years. Poor—but they topped.”

In another interview, Mrs. Roco noted the gubernatorial candidacy of Catholic priest Eddie Panlilio in Pampanga as a “surprising revelation” of how people regard jueting.

“We all know that many Filipinos resort to jueteng to find some relief. And yet, the apparent popular support enjoyed by Father Panlilio perhaps suggests changing attitudes about jueteng.”

Salvation

2007-04-07T21:15:00.000+08:00

By Conrado de Quiros, PDI's There's the Rub 4/5/07

MANILA, Philippines -- SONIA Roco has a story for these holiest of days. She was one of the survivors of the killer earthquake that struck Baguio in July 1990. She was at the Nevada Hotel attending an NGO conference sponsored by USAID. She tells her ordeal thus:

“We were having merienda. I wanted some tea and started off to the end of the long table where it was. Suddenly things began to rock violently. I was a little shaken, but told myself this was normal. This was Baguio. My first instinct was to retrieve my bag which I had left in my chair. Then the chandelier fell. I felt myself hurled down by a terrible force. While hurtling to the floor, I caught sight of something. It just took a second or two, but everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. I saw two legs jutting out from what seemed like solid rock. It was almost comical because the legs were flapping.

“It was the last thing I saw that day. The next instant, it was dark. Completely, absolutely, utterly dark.

“Then shouting, shrill screams. Things were thudding around us. I could see nothing, not even fuzzy outlines. I closed my eyes and opened them. Same thing. I began touching things furiously, like a blind person.

“I made a mental picture of the room. The table had fallen on its side, its legs sticking out. I was lying inside it. There was a guy behind my head. His breath came in spasms, and then he groaned. I felt his slippers push into my head and then his feet went limp. He stopped moving.

“I was lying on my back. I stretched my legs upward to see how far they would go. I touched solid matter with them still bent.

“I began shouting, ‘Peach! Peach!’ (Peachie Roco, married to Raul’s brother Cho.) I heard a voice shouting back not far from me, ‘Son! Son!’ People were screaming and groaning, some in pain, most in fear.

“I asked Peachie if she was OK. She said she was hunched over a table and her feet were wedged into something. She couldn’t move. I had no idea how that looked. But I knew she was in pain.

“Then it struck me: I’m going to die.

“The tremors did not stop. They kept coming from all sides, up and down, side to side. You could feel every ripple and half-expected everything to just fall down. Each time it happened, I clung to the legs of the table.

“I began praying: ‘Lord, my life is in your hands. You created me, You can take me back any time you want to.’

“The next moment, I became very practical. I started an inventory of things still just by touch. Paper, vase, an electric fan that had toppled over. I said to the girl beside me, ‘Mia, let’s pee into this vase, maybe the rescue will take time. We might end up peeing all over the place. She said yes.

“We all knew the time because someone had a penlight and would flash it on his watch now and then and call out the time. At about 4 o’clock in the morning, I heard Peachie groaning. She whispered, ‘Son, I can’t take it anymore. My legs are numb. I’m so tired.’ Those were her last words.

“The hours crawled by. Slowly, I resigned myself to my fate. I began muttering: ‘Mother Nature, this is our fault, we have abused you for so long. (I had been to Baguio many times and seen the mines there.) You have a right to be angry. For years, we stabbed you in the womb. Now, we know what it feels to be inside it, to see the damage we have done.’ I didn’t know if it made any sense. I didn’t care.

“Intermittently, things would shake violently and then stop. It had been a day and half since the earthquake struck and I hadn’t slept all that time. I was getting thirsty and hungry. The muscles on my face were twitching and my lips were dry. It was getting very hard to swallow. And the room now stank of urine and feces.

“I felt very, very tired. I surrendered myself to my Creator. I didn’t know if it was just fatigue, but I began to feel peace. I felt myself floating. I didn’t know whether I was asleep or awake. It was in that state that I heard the clicking sounds.

“It started faintly. I thought I was imagining it. Or dreaming it. But it got louder and became clearer. It was the sound of metal hitting concrete. It was coming from below us. They had gotten to us! They were hammering underneath us!

“We realized it almost at the same time. We chorused, ‘We’re here! We’re alive! We’re alive!’

“Unbelievably, the first hole they bore was nearest me, at my foot. As soon as the hole was big enough, someone shouted, ‘Who’s there? Who can hear us?’ I shouted back, ‘Sonia! Sonia Roco!’

“I had no idea how I looked. They would tell me later that I looked like I had just come from a war. The stench behind me, where I had come from, was overpowering. They were all wearing masks over their mouths, but I noticed that only at back of my mind. I was sobbing and sniffing and trembling.

“I heard Raul’s voice before I saw him. I turned on him resentfully and said, ‘Why just now? Why did you take so long?’

“Raul said apologetically, ‘May kahirapan (It was a little hard).’ It was the understatement of his life.

“‘Salvation’ is a word you hear all the time. I heard it a lot when I was studying catechism. And I said it a lot when I was teaching catechism. But like the words of a prayer, I had never really stopped to wonder what it meant.

“Looking back, I never knew the people who came to pluck me out of the darkness. None of them had to do it. Most of them had families, too. But they took the risk—the structure was fragile. It could have collapsed and buried them along with us. Probably more lethally because they were under us. But they did what they did, and because of that, I am still alive.

“It’s enough to restore your faith in God and people. It’s enough to give you a deep sense of mission in life. It’s enough to make you see the beauty and wonder of life.

“That is salvation.”

Tuloy ang Laban

2007-03-27T18:07:00.000+08:00

Money isn't everything, says GO senatorial candidate Sonia Roco, as she attributes her steady rise in the surveys to what she calls the "sheer sincerity"of her election campaign, and of promoting the advocacies of her late husband, former senator Raul Roco.

"Gusto kong pumasok sa pulitika dahil may misyon ako, hindi para gumamit ng pera," Roco told reporters who covered her campaign in Bicol, Raul Roco's home region. "Kung tutuusin, ang legal requirement—yung legal, ha?—is P120 million per candidate and P120 million for the party. That's P240 million. E saan ka kukuha ng pera na ganoon na legal at hindi rin imoral? Lalo na ngayon na sinasabi ng statistics na maraming gutom. Saan ang ating social conscience?"

Despite her logistical limitations, Mrs. Roco has landed within striking distance of the latest polls, as she herself has noted. "Kaya hindi puwedeng tumataas ka sa survey—at hindi ito dahil sa pera, at lumalakas pa yata loob ko--ay ngayon pa magwiwithdraw? I will continue the fight until the end. Hanggang mabilang ang mga boto. Hanggang panalo tayong lahat. So paki-correct itong news na hindi naman news." She was alluding to unverified reports yesterday about her sliding down to the congressional race when she happened to be campaigning in Raul Roco's home province of Camarines Sur.

"Hindi ko type ang hindi tinutuloy ang laban," said Mrs. Roco, asserting that she was continuing with her senatorial bid. "Yan ang natutunan ko kay Raul Roco. Ituloy ang laban hanggang sa katapusan."

2007-03-27T14:13:00.000+08:00

United Opposition senatorial candidate Sonia Roco campaigns in Naga City, the hometown of her late husband, former senator Raul Roco. She was accompanied by Mayor Jesse Robredo. Roco continued her senatorial campaign amid news reports that she had withdrawn from the race, which she disputed as "an attempt at misinformation to voters, especially now that her nationwide campaign is going very well."

2007-03-26T11:54:00.000+08:00

GO senatorial candidate Sonia Roco continues her Visayan campaign in Dumaguete, Negros Oriental. Roco arrived in this region on Tuesday, starting off in her native province of Bohol where she addressed a forum on women's issues in keeping with Women's Month. This theme was also among the leading advocacies of her husband, the late former senator Raul Roco, whom women's groups had named "Honorary Woman" for the many laws he wrote promoting the rights of women.

ROCO: TUITION FEES SHOULD BE ACCESSIBLE

2007-03-21T15:08:00.001+08:00

Opposition senatorial candidate Sonia Roco arrived in her native province of Bohol yesterday for a two-day campaign, as she reaffirmed her election platform of making education accessible to many Filipinos.

In an interview with DYRD in Tagbilaran, the provincial capital, Roco took up the problem of high tuition fees. "Wherever I go, that question is asked frequently, and that really shows it's a major concern," she said. "I say education is important, but if it's not within reach, how can people get educated? Yet we like to be educated. If elected, the Filipino people can be assured that education will be a high priority in my legislative agenda."

Roco noted the low priority being given to education as well as public health. "Panglaban sa kahirapan at sa corruption ang mga ito," she said. "If you look at Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia, there was a lot of investment in those areas [of education and health] so that eventually poverty and corruption were greatly reduced. And that's the way to global competitiveness--a healthy mind and a healthy body."

In addition, Roco said, she would continue the policies that her husband, the late Raul Roco, carried out as senator and education secretary. Among them, free public education as mandated by the Constitution, funding teachers' cooperatives, providing financial support to schools lacking in certain facilities, and financing and monitoring the Study Now, Pay Later Plan.

Bohol Welcomes Native Daughter Roco

2007-03-20T18:18:00.000+08:00

Tagbilaran - GO Senatorial Candidate Sonia Roco arrived here in this Provincial Capital at 9:00 this morning and was warmly welcomed by a group of here fellow Boholanos, who brought along a marching band at the Tagbilaran City Airport.

Roco returned to her home province to speak before the Bohol Council of Women about issues related to Women’s Month, which were also among the leading advocacies of her late husband, former Senator Raul Roco.

Other personalities in this forum, held at Tagbilaran’s Cultural Center, include Governor Erico Aumentado, who noted to Roco the province’s support for her Senatorial bid.

Roco’s schedule today includes visiting several towns, such as Bilar, the home town of her mother, Petra Cubillo-Malasarte, and Calape, the hometown of her father, Pablo Malasarte, a former Congresman of this province.