Kaya Natin! endorses 4 Team PNoy senatorial bets

AN ADVOCACY group co-founded by the late Interior and Local Government secretary Jesse Robredo on Wednesday officially endorsed four senatorial candidates of the administration-backed Team PNoy.

The Kaya Natin! Movement for Good Governance and Ethical Leadership endorsed the candidacies of Team PNoy bets Ramon "Jun" Magsaysay Jr., Aquilino Pimentel III, Risa Hontiveros, and Paolo Benigno Aquino IV.
 
The group was initially convened by the Ateneo de Manila University-School of Government with Robredo, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Grace Padaca and former Pampanga governor Ed Panlilio.
 
Harvey Keh, lead convener of the group, said the senatorial candidates they have chosen "possess the leadership qualities and values" of the late Secretary Robredo.
 
"We believe that he should be the benchmark by which all candidates in the coming polls should be measured upon," Keh said.
 
Robredo died in a tragic plane crash off the coast of Masbate City on August 18, 2012. He was on his way home to Naga City when the Piper Seneca plane he boarded in Cebu crashed due to engine failure.
 
Before being appointed as Cabinet Secretary, Robredo served as mayor of Naga City. He received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service in the year 2000.
 
"I am equally grateful and proud to get the nod of Kaya Natin! Movement, and essentially, be in the same league as Secretary Robredo, as it mirrors the same principles that I myself believe in. Thank you for your faith in me," Magsaysay said as he welcomed Kaya Natin!'s endorsement.
 
The advocacy group also counts among its leaders two incumbent senators, Francis Pangilinan and Teofisto Guingona III, as well as five incumbent member of the House of Representatives, namely, Jorge Banal Jr. (Quezon City), Kaka Bag-ao (Akbayan party-list), Teddy Baguilat Jr. (Ifugao), Erin Tañada (Quezon), and Marcelino Teodoro (Marikina City). (Kathrina Alvarez/Sunnex)