By Genalyn Kabiling
Malacañang has welcomed former Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas' decision to join the 2019 senatorial elections, saying this was part of the county's vibrant democracy.
Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo
(PCOO / MANILA BULLETIN)
Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo acknowledged the right of Roxas to seek an elective post in the upcoming elections.
"Every citizen of this county has a right to run for public office and to participate in the working democracy and we welcome his participation," Panelo said in an interview with CNN Tuesday.
Roxas has come out of retirement and filed his certificate of candidacy for senator before the Commission on Elections Tuesday.
Roxas, who served as senator from 2004 to 2010, earlier released a Facebook video announcing his planned political comeback after an examination of conscience. “I don’t have any quit in me and I will not quit on our country,” he said.
Roxas took a break from the political scene and lived a quiet family life after he lost to then Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte in the 2016 presidential elections.