A GROUP of congressmen who supported the Duterte administration yesterday launched the Kilusan ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP) which they formed with some current and former national and local government officials to express support to the call for national unity of President Marcos Jr.
The KNP convenors led by San Jose del Monte City Rep. Rida Robes said the group is not meant to be a new political party or coalition but a socio-civic movement supporting the Marcos administration by “reaching out to all sectors of society up to the grassroots level.”
“Ito po ay tugon sa panawagan ng Pangulo, ang magbuo ng isang kilusan at pagalingin ang malalim na hidwaan ng pagkakawatak-watak (This is meant to answer the President’s unity call, to form a movement and put an end to the deep wounds caused by political division),” she said during the KNP’s launch at the Marquee Tent, Edsa Shangri la Hotel.
Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos, the event’s keynote speaker, said the formation of the group was in response to the President’s call for Filipinos to reject the “politics of division.”
He said the President was emphatic about it and “we are here to repair a house divided… to make it strong again in Bayanihan way.”
“Our coming together is our response to the President’s clarion call for unity. KNP is immediately formed to formalize that movement to solidify (our) platform for cohesive, inclusive and unified action for national economy and sustainable development,” he added.
The other convenors are Reps. Divina Grace Yu (Zamboanga del Sur), Luisa Lloren Cuaresma (Nueva Vizcaya), Richard Gomez (Leyte), Johnny Pimentel (Surigao del Sur), Toby Tiangco (Navotas), and Rosanna “Ria” Vergara (Nueva Ecija); and Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo “Albee” Benitez, a former congressman.
Vergara said the newly launched movement is “a movement of conscientious Filipinos working collectively for a better Philippines.”
The event was attended by former Senate President Vicente Sotto III, Mandaluyong City Mayor Benjamin Abalos and his son Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos, five governors, several other lawmakers, city and town mayors, and leaders of various civic organizations, who led in the signing of the KNP pledge supporting Marcos’ call for unity.
The convenors took their oath before Sotto and each was given a KNP pin.
Robes said the formation of the group is just the beginning of a bigger plan to expand the organization, “in our pursuit of a better Philippines, regardless of creed, aspirations and dispositions.”
“Today we are 200. Next month, 2,000 and in the days to come 20,000 to 200,000 to 2 million to 20 (million) and beyond. The growth is exponential until we embody our vision of a truly unified nation,” she said. “We are here to affirm our unwavering and full support to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in his call to collectively work for a better Philippines for all Filipinos regardless of political conviction, religion, motivations and creed.”
