Pundok Padayon Bol-anon cannot just proceed to the May 13 elections this year without a head.
Deputy Speaker Arthur Yap, the standard bearer of Padayon Bol-anon clarified that he is not withdrawing, contrary to what some personalities identified with the other camp’s pronouncement.
“No, I will not withdraw. What is now my obligation to this province that I love, who accepted me, who took care of me? Pasagdan nalang ang Bohol? Roll over and die? I’m not ready to roll over and die. I will not withdraw. I will take this fight for the Boholanos,” Yap clarified.
Yap issued the statement in response to the malicious information spread by supporters of his opponent to the towns.
He also pointed out that he believes in the strength of Pundok Padayon Bol-anon which is based on a well-defined development framework of Bohol.
Bohol’s development framework is geared to sustain the prosperity now being experienced in the province.
Pundok Padayon Bol-anon, under Yap, Governor Edgar Chatto and First District Rep. Rene Relampagos claims the solid support of the people up to the grassroots level because of the projects that benefit their communities facilitated by the incumbents.
Yap at first ignored the malicious information that his gubernatorial candidacy would not push through when supporters of his opponent spread it prior to the filing of candidacy, then the follow-up wave that he would be withdrawing that was spread sometime in November.
At the start of 2019, the allegation that he would be withdrawing was publicly pronounced by an influential figure.
This time, Yap broke his silence and clarified that it is not in his nature to unceremoniously retreat.
Besides, it is obviously malicious for the information to come from the opponent’s camp.
“When you run for office, you run to win. I don’t intend to lose,” Yap pointed out.
Yap’s supporters, for their part, considered it a desperate move from the opposing camp to resort to lies and false presumptions in the effort to undermine the ground support for their candidate.
It is actually an attack against the entire Pundok Padayon Bol-anon “because obviously our campaign on the ground has been more convincing being founded on development and prosperity and not on negativity and false information and the people can tell the difference”, according to the organizers.
“The opposing camp wanted to cut the head, because our groundwork is strong. They forget that our head is also as strong and cannot be cut just like that. They (the opponents) wanted to dilute us. We will convey this to Yap when we meet again. As of this time, our campaign is still on the development programs of Padayon Bol-anon, not yet on soliciting votes because it is not yet campaign period,” the organizers pointed out.
It is actually a “form of deception and the people must be saved from Yap’s opponent whose campaign is grounded on deception”, they added.
In his interaction with the media last week, Yap reiterated that being not born in Bohol is no longer an issue on his part when asked about repetitions of the issue of his being a non-Boholano.
In fact, the people of third district repeatedly voted for him as their representative to Congress.
For three terms, he had been voted as the representative of third district to Congress and it must not be a mistake because the people repeated it thrice.
Yap said he had even rose to deputy speakership and the benefit inures not only to the people of third district, but the entire Boholano people, because he was placed in such position as a congressman from Bohol.
With the support that the people had thrown to Padayon Bol-anon and the positive response to the group’s development agenda, Yap said he is definitely not withdrawing.
Even the decision to run for governor was based on the push from the people and he cannot just disappoint them.
On this, Yap called on the people not to believe what his opponent’s camp is spreading because it is not true that he is withdrawing from the gubernatorial race.