Mar Roxas headed for another election heartbreak | ABS-CBN

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Mar Roxas headed for another election heartbreak

Mar Roxas headed for another election heartbreak

Katrina Domingo,

ABS-CBN News

 | 

Updated May 14, 2019 08:56 AM PHT

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Senatorial candidate Mar Roxas reacts to a question during the Harapan 2019 Senatorial Town Hall Debate at ABS-CBN on February 24, 2019. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News

MANILA -- Opposition senatorial candidate Mar Roxas was headed towards a third consecutive loss in a national election, with nearly 93 percent of votes counted on Tuesday.

Roxas, who turned 62 on Monday, saw his survey ranking drop in the weeks leading to the midterm vote. He lost to President Rodrigo Duterte in 2016 and to Vice President Jejomar Binay in 2010.

Roxas ranked 16th with 9,427,966 votes as of 5:20 a.m., with 92.89 percent of votes tallied by the Commission on Elections transparency server.

Based on the last pre-election survey of Pulse Asia conducted May 3 to 6, Roxas was projected to rank 16th to 17th. Only Sen. Bam Aquino had a statistical chance of winning among the opposition Otso Diretso candidates.

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Roxas was roughly 4 million votes behind Aquino, Senators JV Ejercito and Nancy Binay and former Sen. Bong Revilla, who were slugging it out for the last slots in the winners' circle of 12, based on the partial and unofficial count.

According to a study by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) on political ads, Roxas was the top spender on political advertisements from the start of the campaign period on February 12 until April 30. He was estimated to have spent at least P231 million (assuming discounted ad spending) during this period.

FAKE NEWS, ABSENCE

Fake news and trolls that targeted Roxas for the government's slow response to Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in 2013 and the death of 44 police commandos in a 2015 misencounter weighed on his candidacy, his campaign manager, Edgar Erice, told ABS-CBN News before Monday's vote.

At the time of the two tragedies, Roxas was interior secretary to President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino, his 2010 running mate. Roxas dropped his presidential bid in 2010 to give way to Aquino.

"Naglalabas kami ng mga sagot pero massive 'yung machinery nung mga trolls, mga bashers e so minamanage na lang as much as we can," Erice said.

(We answered the allegations but the trolls and bashers machinery is massive so we managed it as much as we can.)

In April, Roxas attributed his survey decline to his 20-day absence on the campaign trail to take care of his twin children, who were born via surrogacy in the US.

Wharton-educated Roxas topped the 2004 senatorial elections using the moniker "Mr. Palengke." He was trade secretary to former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Erice said in the ABS-CBN interview: "At this point in time, hindi naman political career ang nasa isip ni Mar."

"Ano pa ba ang hahanapin sa buhay ni Mar? Pamilya, maayos na negosyo, maayos health niya," he said.

(What else can Mar be looking for? Family. He has a good business, good health.)

"Personally sa tingin ko wala na siyang kailangan," he said.

(Personally, I don't think he needs anything more.)

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World

S. Korean court extends impeached president's detention, angering supporters

S. Korean court extends impeached president's detention, angering supporters

Agence France-Presse

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A man watches South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol speak during a news broadcast on a television at a train station in Seoul on December 3, 2024, after he declared emergency martial law. Anthony Wallace, AFP 

SEOUL — A South Korean court extended the detention of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol on Sunday over concerns he could destroy evidence linked to his martial law declaration, enraging his supporters who attacked the court building.

Hundreds of pro-Yoon protesters smashed windows and broke down doors to enter the court after the decision was announced, chanting the name of the president, who plunged South Korea into its worst political chaos in decades with his bid to suspend civilian rule.

AFP reporters saw hundreds of police entering the building, with one officer from Seoul's Mapo district separately telling AFP that it was an "unfolding" situation.

The president's December 3 martial law declaration lasted just six hours, with lawmakers voting it down despite him ordering soldiers to storm parliament to stop them. He was impeached soon after and suspended from duties.

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Yoon was detained in a dawn raid Wednesday on insurrection charges after he refused investigators' summons and went to ground in his residence, using his presidential security detail to resist arrest.

The Seoul Western District Court said in a statement sent to AFP Sunday that it had issued a formal arrest warrant extending his detention as "there is a concern that the suspect may destroy evidence."

South Korea's first sitting president to be detained, Yoon had also refused to cooperate during the initial 48 hours detectives were allowed to hold him.

The disgraced leader, who attended court for the first time Saturday over his case, will now remain in custody, with the new warrant allowing investigators to keep him for up to 20 days.

Yoon's lawyer Seok Dong-hyeon slammed the court decision, but also warned the president's supporters not to escalate the situation.

"This is likely not what President Yoon desires," he said in a statement, adding violence could also "create burdens" for the president's future trials.

Some protesters smashed their way into the building -- one using what looked like a riot shield taken from police -- and vandalized the interior, while others outside sprayed an apparent fire extinguisher at the police.

The outer tiles, walls and windows of the court building were damaged, AFP reporters saw. Protesters chanted: "President Yoon Suk Yeol, we protect."

'Passionate patriotism'

Earlier, tens of thousands of Yoon protesters had gathered outside the court. Scuffles resulted in some 40 people detained, police said, while two official vehicles belonging to the body probing Yoon were also attacked.

Yoon sent a letter through lawyers Friday thanking his supporters, who include evangelical Christians and right-wing YouTubers, for protests that he deemed "passionate patriotism".

During Saturday's hearing, some protesters outside waved South Korean and American flags and cried "Impeachment is invalid!"

Yoon's party typically favors South Korea's US security alliance and rejects engagement with the nuclear-armed North.

"Yoon has urged maximum mobilization among his hardline supporters," Chae Jin-won of Humanitas College at Kyung Hee University told AFP.

With the president now likely to be detained for an extended period, the final protest serves "as a sort of farewell event between Yoon and his extreme support base."

The crisis has seemingly boosted support for the conservative People Power Party (PPP), for whom Yoon won the presidential election in 2022.

A Gallup survey published Friday showed the PPP's approval rose to 39 percent, three points higher than the opposition Democratic Party.

More legal woes

The decision to approve Yoon's continued detention gives prosecutors time to formalise a criminal indictment for insurrection, a charge for which he could be jailed for life or executed if found guilty.

Such an indictment would also mean Yoon would likely be detained for a maximum six months during the trial.

Yoon said Wednesday he had agreed to leave his compound to avoid "bloodshed" but that he did not accept the legality of the investigation.

He has refused to answer investigators' questions, with his legal team saying Yoon explained his position the day he was arrested.

Yoon has also been absent from a parallel probe at the Constitutional Court, which is considering whether to uphold his impeachment.

If that court rules against him, Yoon will formally lose the presidency and elections will be called within 60 days.

He did not attend the first two hearings this week but the trial, which could last months, will continue in his absence.

© Agence France-Presse

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