Bayan Muna elated over Duterte win

Militant party-list Bayan Muna congratulated president-elect Mayor Rodrigo Duterte on his overwhelming victory in Monday’s elections.
In a statement, Bayan Muna representative Carlos Isagani Zarate said the Filipino people have “loudly and vigorously spoken – sweeping change must come.”
Zarate said Duterte’s triumph certainly redefined the country’s political landscape.
He said that more importantly Duterte’s victory must be seen as “an outright repudiation of the Aquino administration and the anti-people and elitist establishment it represents.”
“We are one with the people in hoping that President Duterte upon assuming office will soon address the myriad but basic problems confronting our country, that of mass poverty, landlessness and joblessness, of rampant criminality, corruption and environmental plunder, and of violations of human rights and the country’s sovereignty,” he said.
Zarate said their group expects Duterte to immediately begin and pursue in earnest the stalled negotiations with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and the Moro revolutionary forces to address the root causes of war and forge just peace.
“We call on President Duterte to build a government of national unity and social transformation to emancipate the people from mass poverty and social injustices and bring progress to the people,” he said. ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.