Mindanao pushes for Angara and
Team Unity Senatorial Candidates

Political heavyweights from across the Mindanao region have unanimously vowed to support the senatorial candidacy of Team Unity senatorial candidate Edgardo J. Angara and the other TU candidates, adding that they will deliver votes in numbers big enough to make a real difference in the May 14 election.

"Collectively the big political leaders of the region are focused on what we call a Mindanao Push for Angara and the other TU candidates," said Rep. Erico Fabian of Zamboanga City. "And these are votes that will really matter," he added.

Fabian said that the focus on supporting Angara and the TU candidates is based on the expectation that a majority win for the administration candidates will lead to "three years of unprecedented political peace and fruitful executive-legislative cooperation".

Fabian said that this environment will in turn lead to a "full focus on Mindanao based on a comprehensive development plan plus the adequate state investments to support this."

Fabian said that the re-enactment of the budget two times in three years and the country's divided politics have frustrated the efforts to give the development of Mindanao the attention it deserves.

"A big win by Angara and the TU candidates will alter this investment landscape. Mindanao will be a priority agenda," said Fabian, who is expected to sweep his own re-election race in the premier Mindanao city.

From Maguindanao, Governor Datu Andal Ampatuan and ARMM Governor Zaldy Ampatuan told a big rally in Shariff Aguak town that Mindanao needs the likes of Angara to " champion" the causes of Mindanao in the senate.

The Ampatuans, the two most influential figures in ARMM politics, said that Angara would be the ideal "spokesperson" of the region in the senate, specifically on concerns of education, health, infrastructure, social investments and uplift of the ARMM.

"Mindanao needs a voice in the senate. We need someone to advocate for the education of our children, health care for our sick and the construction of roads to connect us to the region of the country," the Ampatuans said.

Angara accepted the challenge and also promised to promote lasting peace in the region.

Angara said that after the peace is secured, developed countries, bilateral and multilateral institutions are committed to assist Mindanao.

Most surveys have placed Angara among the top three senatorial preferences in the ARMM.