Villar slams ‘rich, landed’ rivals with no track record

Nacionalista Party standard bearer and Senator Manuel Villar warned voters here against candidates for president who came from rich families and have had no track record of leadership.
Villar did not name names but obviously referred to his closest rival, LP standard bearer and Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, and the latter's running mate, Sen. Manuel Roxas II, whom he referred to as “hacienderos” in his brief speech on Saturday.
“Ang kalaban ko ngayon, dalawa pong haciendero, [may]malalaking hacienda. Pero sabi ko, hindi nyo naranasan kasi ang kahirapan kaya ganyan magsalita, kung ano-ano ang inyong sinasabi (My rivals are two landowners, they have vast estates. But I say to them, ‘You never experienced hardship and that’s why it’s easy for you to say things against me’,” Villar said at a jam-packed gym after presiding over the oath-taking of members of a local women's organization here in Villasin.
“Humaharap kayo sa tao na wala kayo karanasan, na wala naman kayong pinakitang kakayahang mamahala, wala naman pa kayong pinapakitang liderato. Humaharap kayo sa bansa na para lamang kayong naglalaro. Sinasabi ko na seryoso ang pagkapangulo (You are presenting yourselves to the people, without any experience, without proven capabilities in leadership. You are facing the nation as if you’re just playing. I say to you that the presidency is a serious business),” Villar said, referring to his rivals.
“Hindi yan puede na sino na lamang ang magsasabi na 'Gusto ko maging pangulo o ako ay dapat maging pangulo dahil ang nanay ko ay pangulo (Nobody can just say, ‘I want to be president or I should be president because my mother was president),’” Villar added, referring to Aquino, the only son of the late former president Corazon Aquino.
"Sapagkat pag nagkamali po tayo ng pili, tuloy tuloy na naman po ang kahirapan, (If we make the wrong choice, poverty will continue," Villar said, this time directly addressing the crowd.
Villar has been capitalizing on his own rags-to-riches tale in the presidential campaign, always identifying himself with the poor by injecting in his speeches sob stories of his growing up years in Tondo.
Earlier in the day, Villar, his running mate Sen. Loren Legarda and a handful of the NP senatorial candidates met with the residents of the tent city in Barangay (Village) San Pedro in Rosales town.
Some 350 families had been living in tents and makeshift homes for the last four months after their houses were washed away by floods brought by typhoon “Pepeng” in late 2009.
On a rundown stage, Villar's staff gathered some 40 children and urged them to sing the presidential candidate's hugely popular “Naging Mahirap” (I was once poor) campaign jingle.
Villar, Legarda and the senatorial bets distributed “taho” and “ice candy” to the children.
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2 dead, 1 hurt in C5 road accident—report

2 people were killed and one was injured when their car

smashed into an electric post along the C5 Ortigas flyover early Saturday, according to a radio report.

Quoting police, radio dzMM identified the fatalities as Ramon Garcia, 28, and the driver of the Audi with plate number PM222; and John Paul Uy, who was at the passenger’s seat.

John Michael Ong, who was seated at the back of the vehicle, survived and was taken to Medical City. All were residing at Valle Verde in Barangay (village) Ugong in Pasig City, the report said.

The report said the accident occurred at 5:20 a.m. Quoting witnesses, the report said the car overtook another vehicle before slamming into the post.

Photos taken by the dzMM reporter on the scene showed Uy’s grief-stricken parents who was said to have rushed to the accident site after having been informed of their son’s death. The bodies of Uy and Garcia were taken to the Quiogue Funeral Homes, the report said.

Police were quoted as saying that the impact was so strong that the engine flew out of the vehicle and landed on a passing taxi. Other parts of the car also littered the highway as shown by the other photos taken by the dzMM reporter.

The accident caused a traffic jam along C5 as police closed the Ortigas flyover to allow authorities to clean up the debris.
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Yellow ballot boxes out; black plastic in.

Say goodbye to the iconic yellow ballot boxes.
The steel ballot boxes, which witnessed much of the Philippines’ bloody election history, will be decommissioned when Filipinos vote for their new batch of leaders on May 10.
The Commission on Elections on Tuesday unveiled the ballot boxes that will be used in the automated national elections in May, saying it will be harder to steal than the yellow metal boxes used in the past.
Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said the new ballot box measures 36 inches in length and 20 inches in width.
The box, made of hard plastic, is 34 inches high to better accommodate the long ballots and the large number of voters. (The size of the old ballot box is 12 x 12 x 12 inches.)
“This will fit a thousand ballots, the main reason for the composition of the ballot box,” Larrazabal said.
On top of the plastic box is a cavity for the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machine, which can be locked in place. The box has three hooks for padlocks on the lid.
The ballot box has “unbreakable” translucent windows on the sides so that “the voter can see the paper dropping inside the box,” Larrazabal said.
He also noted that the plastic box could withstand the elements and the rigors of Election Day activities.
Because of the boxes’ size, poll cheaters and local warlords out to manipulate the results will not be able to just grab it from the precinct centers, Larrazabal said.
In past elections, teachers used to guard the yellow boxes with their own lives from election operatives.
In May 2007, a school in Batangas was burned down when teachers manning the voting place refused to give up the ballot boxes. Three people were killed in the fire, which was allegedly ordered by a local politician.
The Comelec initially wanted to use a transparent election box. The poll body ruled it out because light could affect the ultraviolent ink marks on the ballots.
“When you have the markings exposed to sunlight for an extended period of time, they might fade,” Larrazabal said.
“If a recount has to be carried out, then suddenly your ballots may not have UV marks. So, what were original ballots in the beginning might suddenly look like fake ballots,” he added.
Although the Comelec will not be using the yellow metal boxes for this elections, it will not yet throw away the equipment, which was designed for manual polls.
The poll body said the yellow ballot boxes would still be used for barangay elections and referendums.
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3 Presidential bets to waive rights to bank secrecy

Senators Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III and Ma. Ana Consuelo “Jamby” Madrigal and Olongapo city councilor JC De Los Reyes pledged Tuesday to waive their rights under the Bank Secrecy Law to open their accounts to the public if elected president.
Appearing at the Second Integrity and Human Rights Conference at Hotel Intercontinental Manila, Aquino said he would do so to prove his sincerity in fighting corruption.
But he said he would not presume that members of his Cabinet would do the same, as bank accounts were in the realm of individuals' privacy, protected by the Bill of Rights.
De Los Reyes said he would extend this waiver to his wife. "They won't find anything (in our accounts) anyway," he said.
Madrigal said she would also oblige her Cabinet to waive their bank secrecy rights. She said she was not beholden to anybody except to her dead relatives, who had served the country with integrity.
The event was organized by the Commission on Human Rights, in partnership with Bisyon 2020, Transparency International Philippines, the United Nations Development Programme, Civil Service Commission, among others, with the aim of formulating a covenant to usher in “a new paradigm on integrity and human rights for the new government.”
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Aquino gripes over ‘biases’of forum moderator

Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III protested what he described as unfair treatment of a journalist, who acted as moderator of a presidential forum sponsored by a group of businessmen in Pasay City on Tuesday.

During the forum by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Aquino took a subtle dig at how Tony Lopez of BizNewsAsia showed his supposed biases for his closest rival in the presidential race, Senator Manny Villar.

Lopez introduced Villar as former House speaker, former Senate president and “former future president,” while he described Aquino as someone who came from a good “pedigree of heroes.”

Interviewed by reporters after the forum, Aquino did not mince words to hit Lopez, who had been writing negative articles about him.

In fact, Aquino said the perceived bias of Lopez was one reason he opted to attend the event.

“Kaya ako nagpunta dito dahil alam kong may bias. Tinitingnan ko yung mga article ng moderator. Sana may parity lang (I went here because I know there’s bias. I’ve been reading the articles of the moderator. I just hope there is parity),” Aquino lamented.

The senator pointed out, for instance, how he was always chosen to be the first to answer questions in the forum.

“On other fora, it’s alternating. Obviously, the last to answer will have plenty of time to think about his response,” he said.

Asked if Lopez could be favoring any candidate, Aquino said: “Favoring Villar. He has already several articles on that.”
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Madrigal to make amends with Judy Ann

Calling herself and popular actress Judy Ann Santos "victims of politics and politicians," Sen. Maria Ana Consuelo "Jamby" Madrigal said on Tuesday she did not mean to offend the actress when she said she regretted tapping a celebrity as an endorser when she first run for the Senate in 2004.
Santos was Madrigal’s top celebrity endorser in 2004.
Madrigal blamed the camp of Sen. Manuel "Manny" Villar for pitting her against her celebrity endorser during the 2004 senatorial polls.
Madrigal assailed the Nacionalista Party standard-bearer's public relations group for allegedly twisting what she said about celebrity endorsers during a recent Philippine Daily Inquirer presidential debate at the University of the Philippines in Quezon City.
In a forum at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila in Intramuros, Manila, the independent presidential candidate said she was "sad.”
“I’m sad that my response in the debate (about celebrity endorsers) was used and twisted by my enemies in politics). I'm sad that Juday (Santos' nickname) got hurt...I'm sad the issue was used by them just to hurt Juday," said Madrigal.
In the Inquirer debate, questions turned to big ad spending by presidential candidates and the use of celebrity endorsers to boost their campaign. When Madrigal was asked about her take on the issue, the senator said she had "realized the folly of my ways" in tapping a movie actress to create a connection with the voting masses in 2004. She did not mention Judy Ann Santos but the actress was her chief endorser in 2004.
Madrigal told students of the Manila city-run university she had "no conflict" with Santos, whom she described as "one of my favorite actresses" during an earlier interview with this paper.

Madrigal said she would go out of her way to be able to explain her side to Santos, whom she called "one of my favorite actresses" during an earlier interview with this reporter.
"I hope we’ll get to understand each other. And wherever she is, I will talk to her. Everything can be resolved if the person is sincere and she knows I’m sincere. I will never say anything bad about Juday," she said.
Madrigal noted she had "repeatedly acknowledged and thanked Juday for her help" in boosting her popularity in the 2004 elections.
"When I announced my presidential bid (on July 31), she was one of the people I thanked," along with members of her family and the late presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr. and his wife, actress Susan Roces, she recalled.
Santos said in a recent TV interview she was not happy about Madrigal's recent pronouncements belittling celebrity endorsers of politicians as an insult to the intelligence of voters.
Madrigal earlier said she was "not considering" asking for Santos' endorsement again.
Apparently referring to Villar, Madrigal blamed her "biggest political rival who is a billionaire, and who has a (political) machinery" for allegedly blowing the issue out of proportion.
"Magaling maglihis 'yon ng story (He knows how to deflect and distract people from issues)," she said.
During the same forum, Madrigal slammed Villar for allegedly making a "circus" out of the recent El Shaddai gathering in Hong Kong where Bro. Mike Velarde, leader of the religious group, indicated he was backing Villar's presidential bid.
"Although I welcome the endorsement of religious groups, let us not cheapen their worth by having a circus in publicizing the endorsement. It should be a serious endorsement based in principles, not on sheer vested interests," said Madrigal.
She pointed out "it's a free country and (Velarde) can endorse who he wants."
"If we look at the background of the two, it appears that Villar and Bro. Mike are longtime business partners," the senator noted.
According to Madrigal, if a religious group decides to endorse her both parties should have had good discussions at not a circus, like what happened in Hong Kong.
Still referring to Villar, she said the NP candidate was "just using the religious group as endorser."
Madrigal wondered why Villar, whom she said had a "100 percent awareness" among the public, still needed endorsements from religious group and celebrities.
"He already has because he was a Senate president, so there's no need to introduce himself. All he needs is to introduce his platform...Di ba siya mahal ng taong-bayan (Isn’t he loved by the masses)?" she said.
So far, Villar got actor-comedians Dolphy and Michael V, singer Sarah Geronimo, and controversial TV host Willie Revillame as his campaign endorsers.
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Sen Trillanes, general granted temporary liberty

Detained Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and 17 others who have been charged with rebellion for seizing and taking over a hotel in Makati City in 2007 have been granted temporary liberty by a local court.
Judge Elmo Alameda of Branch 150 of the Makati City court set P200,000 bail each for Trillanes and the 17, including Brigadier General Danilo Lim, who is running for senator in the May elections under the Liberal Party.
Aside from Trillanes and Lim, allowed to post bail were Captain Gary C. Alejano; Lieutenant Senior Grades Eugene P. Gonzalez, James Layug, Manuel Cabochan and Andy Torrato; Lieutenant Junior Grade Arturo Pascua jr.; Captain Segundino Orfiano Jr.; 1Lieutenant Billy Pascua; Corporal Clecarte D. Dahan; Privates First Class Juanito Jilbury, Emmanuel Tirador, German Linde, Julius Mesa, Cesari Yasser Gonzales; 2nd Lieutenant Jonnell P. Sangalan and Ens Armand Pontejos
In the order he signed Tuesday, Alameda allowed Trillanes, Lim, and the 16 military officials to be released while their case for rebellion was being heard in court.
Alameda said the evidence presented by the government, so far, supported the charge of direct contempt of court against the accused, but not the charge of rebellion.
“An actual clash of arms with government forces is not necessary to make one liable of rebellion,” Alameda said in her 16-page decision.
"No direct, material and competent evidence adduced to prove the specific act committed by the accused constituting the crime of rebellion or any of the elements thereof. The walkout from the court, the marching to the Manila Peninsula hotel and the press conference held in the same hotel denouncing the administration of President [Gloria Macapagal-]Arroyo are not sufficient to prove the non-bailable crime of rebellion," she said.
The walkout staged by the accused in the middle of a hearing for their role in the 2003 mutiny at the posh Oakwood Apartments in Makati could only be considered an act of direct contempt of court and not rebellion, said Alameda.
Citing the Revised Penal Code, Alameda said the elements of rebellion were:
1. That there be a public uprising and taking arms against the government;
2. That the purpose of the uprising is either to remove the allegiance to said government or its laws-the territory of the Philippines or any part thereof or any body of land, naval or other armed forces; or
3. To deprive the Chief executive or Congress wholly or partially of any of their powers and prerogatives.
Alameda said the prosecution failed to prove that all the accused rose publicly and took arms against the government.
“A thorough evaluation of the evidence presented during the entire bail hearing will readily show that the prosecution failed to demonstrate that the evidence of guilt of the accused for the crime of rebellion is strong to foreclose their right to bail,” she said.
“More specifically, the prosecution failed to demonstrate that: a) the accused were involved in public uprising or an armed public uprising by substantial number of rebels; b) the accused took up arms against the government; c) there was a vast movement of men and a complex net of intrigues and plots; d) there was a civil war on a bigger or lesser scale; and e) the Chief Executive was deprived wholly or partially of her powers and prerogatives,” she said.
Alameda also said that while prosecution was able to establish that two of the four assault rifles with loaded magazines where found positive of gunpowder, not one of the witnesses was able to positively identify the owner of the confiscated firearms.
Alameda noted that the testimony of Police Senior Inspector Fernando Reyes, deputy chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) CIDG-NCR, has no value because although he heard Trillanes call for a withdrawal of support for the Arroyo government, his account was based on a TV monitor that was positioned outside Manila Peninsula.
“Simply stated, the prosecution failed to lay sufficient foundation on the admissibility of his testimony. At most, the prosecution should have presented an authenticated DVD disk showing the footages relating to the testimony of PSI Fernando Reyes,” the court said.
Trillanes, Lim and the 16 military officers are still facing charges for the short-lived mutiny in 2003 and unless they are released on bail in that case, rules of court state that they will have to remain in jail.

source: inquirer.net
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LP bares Villar land controversy

The Liberal Party unleashed Friday a land conversion bomb against Nacionalista Party standard-bearer Senator Manuel Villar.
In a press conference at the Iloilo Golf and Country Club in Sta. Barbara, Iloilo, Former Senate president Franklin Drilon said Villar’s company, Crown Communities Iloilo, bought 12.7 hectares in Jibao-an, Pavia, Iloilo from farmer beneficiaries and converted this first-class irrigated rice land into a residential enclave, Savannah Subdivision.
Drilon said Villar had obtained the go-signal from the Department of Agrarian Reform to convert the agriculture land into a residential area only in 2007, or seven years after the construction of the subdivision started in 2000.
Villar, who was in Tanza, Cavite for a campaign rally Friday shrugged off the latest allegations hurled against him by LP, saying the lands were owned by publicly listed companies which has open books that his critics could check for themselves.
“I don’t know what they are accusing me of again. That’s a lie. As far as I know, there’s a process that is according to law and that is an open transaction. These are public companies. I am surprised by what they are saying. This is part of their demolition job against me. These are public companies. This is open. Anybody can look at this,” said Villar in Filipino following a noontime campaign rally of the NP slate in Cavite.
“The documents here do not lie. Under the law, it is illegal to convert first-class irrigated agricultural land into a subdivision but that’s exactly what Manny Villar did in the Savannah Subdivision development. This is a crime,” Drilon said as he presented tax declarations and other documents obtained from the provincial government. (The son of Iloilo Governor Neil Tupas is running for a seat in May under LP.)
Drilon said Villar used P4 million of his pork barrel funds to build a 585-meter national road that led right into the entrance of Savannah. “This is the only public works project of Villar in the province,” said Drilon at the Iloilo press conference.
He said that Villar, not content with the 12-hectare Savannah property, bought the adjoining rice lands in the area and amassed a total of 250 hectares of land to expand his residential community.
He said the farmers had no choice but to sell their property because their irrigation supply had been cut off with Villar’s conversion of the Savannah property which was the primary source of water in the area.
“Villar destroyed the irrigation canals. They back-filled the canal so they can be classified as non-serviceable,” said Drilon who noted that Villar’s Pavia property value has shot up to P3,500 per square meter from less than P150 per square meter.
“This is what we call C-5 and a half. Regardless if it is only half a kilometer, it shows the lack of decency on the part of the developer, Senator Villar, who simply set aside all interest of the CARP beneficiaries to be able to pursue his business interests. The C-5 controversy is simply a tip [of] the iceberg. It is a pattern we now see. We are aware of other subdivisions all over the country where similar practice was followed,” said Drilon.
With a report from Nikko Dizon, Philippine Daily Inquirer
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Villar seen to get Bro. Mike’s nod.

NACIONALISTA PARTY (NP) standard-bearer Sen. Manuel Villar arrived here Saturday afternoon to meet with Filipino migrants and influential lay Catholic leaders, including Bro. Mariano “Mike” Velarde of the charismatic group El Shaddai.
Villar was to meet with Couples for Christ leader Frank Padilla and other CFC elders Saturday night. On Sunday he is to attend the Chinese New Year celebration of El Shaddai’s Hong Kong chapter.
Shortly before she herself flew to the former Crown Colony, Villar’s running mate, Sen. Loren Legarda, said the two of them were “the only ones invited by Brother Mike.”
Legarda told the Inquirer by phone that Velarde had personally extended the invitation to her and Villar to attend Sunday’s gathering in Hong Kong, which hosts nearly 100,000 Filipino voters.
The gathering is to be held on Chater Road at the central business district, where Filipino domestics congregate on Sundays.
Politicians running for national or local posts always seek the support of religious groups such as El Shaddai and Iglesia ni Cristo, which is known to vote as a bloc during elections.
Long friendship
On the phone with the Inquirer in Manila, Velarde’s spokesperson Mel Robles confirmed that among the presidential candidates, only Villar was invited by the El Shaddai leader to join him at Sunday’s gathering.
Robles, who was also in Hong Kong to take part in the Chinese New Year celebration, left it to Velarde to say whether he would endorse Villar and Legarda.
But he confirmed that among the candidates in past and coming elections, the NP standard-bearer was the closest to Velarde.
Robles, the administrator of the Light Rail Transit Authority, also chairs Buhay, the El Shaddai party-list group.
“Their friendship goes a long, long way. Compared to all others in the past, this one has the longest friendship with him,” Robles told the Inquirer on the phone.
According to Robles, Villar has enjoyed Velarde’s support since he first ran for congressman up to the time he became Speaker of the House of Representatives and Senate President.
Explaining the friendship, Robles said Velarde was one of the pioneers of mass housing in the country, and Villar used to supply sand to his business.
Velarde reportedly ventured into the residential subdivision business in the 1980s after graduating from the University of the East with a degree in geodetic engineering.
Like Villar, Velarde’s property was also deemed to have benefited from the controversial C-5 road extension project. But the Senate decided not to include the politically influential church leader in its investigation.
Verbal, nonverbal clues
In a statement sent to the Inquirer through Robles later Saturday, Velarde confirmed that Villar was the only presidential candidate invited to join him at Sunday’s gathering.
But when asked if he was supporting Villar’s candidacy over the others, Velarde merely said: “We go a long way back and we’re very close friends.”
Short of confirming that his boss was inclined to back Villar, Robles said the invitation for Villar to join Velarde in an El Shaddai event was “out of the ordinary.”
But he added that as a matter of policy, Velarde did not openly endorse candidates but merely gave verbal or nonverbal clues for his flock to “discern” during El Shaddai prayer rallies in Parañaque City close to Election Day.
Robles also said that if there was someone Velarde was “openly and wholeheartedly endorsing,” it would be the Buhay party-list group, of which his son Rene is a representative.
Villar arrived on board a Cathay Pacific flight at around 2:40 p.m. with his wife, Las Piñas Rep. Cynthia Villar.
The senator is expected to attend Mass at the Church of the Annunciation in Tsuen Wan district before having dinner with Padilla and other CFC leaders.
He is to also meet Sunday with leaders of the militant group Migrante before attending the El Shaddai celebration.
Villar’s NP has allied with the militant Makabayan alliance, which has a strong presence in the Filipino community in Hong Kong.
According to Migrante, Hong Kong has one of the highest number of registered voters among overseas Filipino workers, and had the highest voter turnout overseas during the 2004 and 2007 elections.
Loren’s adviser
Legarda disclosed to the Inquirer that it was Velarde himself who had advised her to run with Villar.
“I was consulting him last year on who to run with after Chiz (Sen. Francis Escudero) bolted the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC),” Legarda said.
“Chiz is gone,” she quoted Velarde as saying. “Don’t look too far. You should be with Manny (Villar).”
Escudero had earlier been groomed to be the NPC’s standard-bearer, with Legarda as his running mate. But he backed out at the last minute.
Legarda said she and Velarde meet for lunch almost every month.
“The last time we had lunch together, he was with his daughter and son,” she said.
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Aquino denies backing Binay’s VP bid

Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III dispelled speculations he is supporting the vice presidential bid of Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay and not of his running-mate, Senator Mar Roxas.
“Ako, kinakampanya ko po ang aking running-mate, si Mar Roxas. Klaro po na pag ako ay may pipunupuntahang lugar ay kasama ko si Mar Roxas. Ang platform po namin, kami ni Mar Roxas ang gumawa (I campaign for my running-mate, Mar Roxas. Wherever I go I am joined by Roxas. We formulated our platform together,” he said.
Aquino and Roxas both belong to the Liberal Party. Binay, who is running with former president Joseph Estrada, was a close ally of Aquino’s mother, the late president Corazon Aquino.
“Si Jojo Binay po kaibigan ko. Pero nag-usap kami at kinlaro ko sa kanya na ang kandidato ko nga ho talaga ay ang aking kapartido na si Mar Roxas (Jojo Binay is a friend. But we talked and I clarified to him that my candidate is my party-mate, and that’s Mar Roxas),” said Aquino.

He said he had asked Binay to join his senatorial slate but the latter declined.

Aquino said if he has supporters backing Binay he would persuade them to instead support Roxas, who gave up his presidential bid for Aquino.
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Villar : I did no wrong so why should I ask him for help ?

Senator Manny Villar today said he did not approach  Senate President  Juan Ponce Enrile for help on the C-5 road controversy.
“Wala akong hininging tulong at walang ibinigay. No help was asked and none was given, “Villar said.
Villar also belied Enrile’s claim  in a radio interview this morning that  he  offered to  help Enrile with "anything" during one of their meetings about the C-5 road controversy.
Villar said he saw no need  to ask help from Enrile  because “ I was confident that the documents, the records, the witnesses, and the rules  will prove that the C-5 road project was not double-funded, overpriced or rerouted.”
“Bakit ako hihingi ng tulong e hindi naman ako guilty  at wala naman akong ginawang masama ? Lahat ng dokumentong sinubmit  at lahat ng nag-testify sa Senado yan ang sinabi, “ he said.
“But looking back, I thought I was dealing with honorable men who would view things fair and impartially. Nagkamali pala ako,” Villar said, adding that he was “hurt”  by Enrile’s “false story.”
He said the Senate hearing on C-5 controversy was “conceived in malice and was meant to embarrass me so I will not be a factor in these elections.”
“Nagsimula ito ng umakyat ako sa surveys. Nang gumaganda ratings ko, pumapangit naman ang mga atake nila sa akin ,” Villar said referring to his  steady climb in  the surveys, with a scant eight points separating him and frontrunner Sen. Noynoy Aquino of Liberal Party per  one recent poll.
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NP senatorial bets launch campaign minus standard-bearers

Without its standard-bearers, the Nacionalista Party's (NP) senatorial ticket kicked off its campaign with a motorcade in various towns in Laguna on Tuesday.

But only eight of 12 NP senatorial joined the motorcade, which started in Binan market.

In attendance were Senator Pia Cayetano, former congressman Gilbert Remulla, lawyer Adel Tamano, Bayan Muna Representative Satur Ocampo, Gabriela Representative Liza Maza, Ramon "Mon-Mon" Mitra, Gwendolyn Pimentel, and Susan Ople.

Absent were guest candidates and Senators Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr., Ilocos Norte Representative Ferdinand "Bong-Bong" Marcos Jr., and jailed Colonel Ariel Querubin.

Remulla said Querubin was represented by his son, Martin.

Remulla could not say yet if those absent in the motorcade will later show up in the rally slated at 3: 30pm in Banga town spot plaza, Calamba Laguna.
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Teodoro vows to lead a "Positive Campaign"

He will leave the mudslinging and brickbats to his rivals and embark on a “positive campaign” of political reconciliation and uplifting the Filipinos’ morale, administration candidate Gilbert Teodoro said Tuesday as he sets off the start of the three-month campaign for his presidential bid.
In pinstriped green and white polo and jeans, Teodoro showed up at the Lakas-Kampi headquarters along EDSA at noon with running mate actor Edu Manzano and four of his six senatorial candidates.
He faced the media for a news conference then led a convoy of vehicles in a motorcade to the Ynares Gym in Antipolo City, where he would fire his opening campaign salvo.
Aboard a coaster, Teodoro waved to onlookers awaiting the motorcade. The road leading to Antipolo City where his vehicles would pass by are spruced with streamers and posters of administration candidates.
Teodoro’s senatorial slate is composed of Ramon Revilla Jr., Lito Lapid, Ramon Guico, Raul Lambino, Rey Langit, and Silvestre Bello III.
Asked how his campaign would be different from his rivals, he said he would lead a “positive campaign” focusing on “reforms, how to uplift the morale of the Filipinos, and genuine political reconciliation.”
“To me, it should be a positive campaign, we have to uplift the moral of the Filipinos, lend a helping hand, it has to be positive, that’s why it’s ‘Sulong Pilipinas,’” he said.
He said his common message would be for the people to “help each other overcome obstacles and grab opportunities through institutional governance, through trying to help each other, the ordinary citizen and the government and genuine political reconciliation.”
What is needed, he said, is reform based on stability and an experienced leader who can set aside political differences and genuinely reconcile all political factions so that the country can focus on opportunities for growth.
Teodoro said he is prepared for the worst intrigues and scheming in this campaign, saying he feels he has seen them all.
Asked what he would find the most difficult in the three-month campaign period, he said it would be the physical exhaustion and the separation from his family.
Teodoro also introduced journalist and television host Mike Toledo as his spokesman.
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Its Carnival Time

Candidates waved from motorcades, pressed hands with housewives and teenagers, and pleaded at Masses for God’s blessings as the most extravagant political carnival in Philippine history rolled off Tuesday.
The country’s richest politician and the son of its democracy icon are locked in a tight battle to win the hearts of some 50 million voters, who will go to the polls on May 10 in the Philippines’ first automated national elections.
At stake in the elections are the posts of president, vice president, 12 Senate seats, more than 200 seats in the House of Representatives and over 17,600 local government positions.
The world’s best boxer, Manny Pacquiao, and a dictator’s flamboyant widow, former first lady Imelda Marcos, are among the dizzying array of characters hoping to grab a share of power in one of Asia’s most unruly democracies.
Some analysts warned that candidates’ promises of change were likely to prove hollow.
“I don’t think there will be any change in the idiosyncracies that define the Philippines,” said Robert Broadfoot, managing director of the Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy group.
Poverty, corruption and unemployment are the top issues in the campaign.
The two front-runners in opinion surveys, Senators Manuel Villar and Benigno Aquino III, are promising a clean government and fresh start for the Philippines after nine years of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s tumultuous rule dotted with coup plots and corruption allegations.
With dozens of people already dead in the run-up to the polls—including 57 civilians (at least 30 of them media workers) gunned down in a massacre in Maguindanao province last November—political violence has again emerged as a main concern. About 130 people were killed during the last elections in 2007.
Aquino, who rode into contention on a wave of sympathy following the death of his mother, democracy heroine Corazon Aquino, leads Villar by a hair in the latest surveys.
Aquino’s earlier huge lead in surveys vanished almost as quickly as it was gained as Villar, a mega-rich property developer, caught up him with a 35-percent support in the latest Pulse Asia survey following an advertising spending spree.
Spice from Estrada
Adding spice to the race is former President Joseph Estrada’s attempt at political resurrection, after he was deposed halfway through his first term in 2001 and later convicted of corruption. Ms Arroyo pardoned him weeks later.
Estrada is running third in the surveys and, although an outside chance, some analysts said the former movie star could yet achieve his wish of redemption.
“It’s going to be difficult for him, but he has 100-percent name recognition across the country—it depends on how diligently he runs his campaign,” said Ronald Holmes, a political lecturer at De La Salle University in Manila.
The ruling coalition’s choice to succeed Ms Arroyo, former Defense Secretary Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro Jr., is running a distant fourth with just a 5-percent support in the latest survey.
However Holmes, also president of polling firm Pulse Asia, said picking a winner three months from the election was impossible, and even Teodoro had a chance if the coalition’s formidable machinery could kick into action.
Come-backing Imelda
For an international audience, interest will focus on Pacquiao, the seven-time world champion boxer who is running for a congressional seat in Sarangani province in Mindanao.
Pacquiao is counting on his hero status to get him elected. He failed in a similar bid in the 2007 congressional elections and Holmes said could again be struck a knockout political blow.
“It’s going to be difficult for him. He is up against someone who has been in local politics for a long time,” Holmes said.
Also seeking a seat in the House of Representatives is Imelda Marcos, the 80-year-old wife of Ferdinand Marcos, who is running in the second congressional district of Ilocos Norte for the seat being vacated by her son, Ferdinand Jr.
Lenten tradition
Police have set up checkpoints in a nationwide crackdown on unlicensed guns. They said operations were continuing to disarm nearly 100 private armies on the payroll of political warlords.
On Tuesday, candidates shook hands with vendors, housewives, laborers and teenagers as they hopped from town to town just a few hours away from Manila, visiting markets, parks and churches on the first of 90 days of campaigning.
Some candidates heard Mass at churches, with one transforming his rally into a prayer gathering, reenacting the Lenten tradition of Jesus Christ washing the feet of his disciples to illustrate his desire to be a public servant.
Personalities vs platforms
Financial markets are hoping for a smooth transition, outweighing fears of possible technical and administrative problems from the country’s first automated polls.
Analysts are looking for more details on the candidates’ platforms, particularly economic policies, which are absent from a barrage of political ads on TV and radio since the start of the year.
Historically, popular personalities from political clans, the media, sports and show business dominate the elections, but some analysts are seeing some positive changes.
“In this election, I see a 50-50 ratio on personalities and platforms or issues as the political race heats up among the leading presidential candidates,” said Ramon Casiple, executive director of Institute for Political and Electoral Reforms.

source: inquirer
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Aquino: I will redistribute Hacienda Luisita in 5 years

Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III Tuesday promised to redistribute the 6,453-hectare Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) within five years as prescribed by the new agrarian reform law.
In a press conference at his father’s ancestral home in Concepcion, Tarlac, where the Liberal Party (LP) standard-bearer formally launched his candidacy, Aquino said that the hacienda controlled by the Cojuangco family of his late mother President Corazon Aquino was virtually bankrupt.
The presidential candidate did not give details of the debts but said that this was the reason the Cojuangcos had been hesitant to dump the sprawling sugar plantation on the farmers with its obligations still unpaid.
“I have said several times before that I have already talked with my family and that what we are after is the welfare of our ‘kasamahan’ and our main problem is how to transfer the land without the debt.
“We could have made a voluntary offer to sell from day one if we were only after our own interest. We get paid, and we will be left with a huge sum in the bank, but our kasamahan are left in a not so perfect situation—10,000 (farmers) to divide 4,500 hectares of land that do not have equal productivity,” said Aquino.
His running mate, Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas II, himself a rich landowner, took the cudgels for him by stressing that that the farmers’ enemy was not Aquino but the banks.
“The land is mortgaged to the banks and they cannot just turn their bank and give up the land because it would all go to the banks,” Roxas said.
Aquino said that his cousins “who are running the hacienda” had already made the rounds to get the consent of 10,000 farmers on what scheme they wanted to effect the land transfer. He said this should also be approved by the corporation.
Aquino issued a press statement at the start of his national campaign promising to complete the distribution of over a million hectares of private lands during the five-year extension period of the new agrarian reform law.
He said that this would allow the government to pour more funds into agricultural extension services, irrigation, farm-to-market roads, to help farmer-beneficiaries.
P150-billion fund
Aquino noted that P150 billion allocated under CARPER (CARP Extension with Reforms) was approved last year (Aquino abstained during the voting) for the purchase of lands and he intended to use the funds to implement the land transfer in his own family’s Hacienda.
Agrarian reform was the centerpiece of a poverty alleviation program that Corazon Aquino had vowed to undertake when she campaigned for president in the snap election of 1986 against the dictator Ferdinand Marcos. A subsequent People Power revolution that year ousted Marcos.
In 1988, President Aquino promulgated a comprehensive agrarian reform program, but her hacienda was exempted when it opted to distribute shares of stocks instead to farmers.
However, the Department of Agrarian Reform said that after 17 years, the arrangement had not improved the lives of the farmers and ordered the distribution of the lands to them. At the Cojuangcos’ behest, the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order. The case remains pending.
Those lands that remain undistributed are the huge estates, like Hacienda Luisita, whose owners have resisted the program the past two decades. The Hacienda issue has become an albatross in the Aquino campaign and a big question mark on his ability to address poverty and the unequal distribution of wealth.
Aquino as rapper
In Capas later, Aquino shocked and entertained his audience by giving an impromptu performance of his political rap jingle on a makeshift stage at the public market.
He told the crowd that he wanted to disprove the Villar camp’s claims that he merely put on fast mode his song to make it sound like he was rapping.
In the evening, the group proceeded to Tarlac City for the unveiling of the 9-foot monument of Corazon Aquino.
During the press conference, Aquino and Roxas blasted Nacionalista Party presidential candidate Sen. Manny Villar for his purported secret ties to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
“I have been taught as a child that if I pushed for something that is wrong, I will be part of that evil,” Aquino said.
“Their alliance will eventually come out in the coming days. You can see from their actions and words that they do have a collaboration.”
Roxas mocked Villar’s “fake” image as seen from his constant dying of his white hair and alleged botox treatment for his wrinkles.
“This campaign will stand on character versus cash,” he said.
While Aquino and Roxas zeroed in on Villar in the kick-off rally at the Concepcion public market, Aquino claimed that Ms Arroyo remained as his main target in the elections and that Villar and anyone who would seek to continue her “crooked system” should not be allowed to be in power. “
Noynoy blasts Gibo
Aquino said this included his cousin, Lakas-Kampi-CMD presidential candidate Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro, Ms Arroyo’s former defense secretary.
“I am older than him and in fairness, I don’t think we have ever hit each other below the belt. He claimed in his slogan that it was possible for the country to grow fast but he has to explain why start only now when they have been in power for 10 years?” Aquino said.
With Villar cutting down Aquino’s once formidable lead, the LP candidate said his campaign team would aim at delivering a more clear and focused message primarily through 300,000 card-carrying volunteers ready to defend and promote him.
Aquino said that Villar, whom he described as his “closest competitor,” would be his best ally in the campaign.
“My closest opponent mouthed what I said (about not raising taxes and managing the deficit) and he agreed that my position is correct. As he follows my platform more and more, my opponent will constantly change his message because he has not been studying what he is supposed to study,” Aquino said.
Ad spending
What Aquino will not do is match Villar’s spending which LP guest senatorial bet, Akbayan party-list Rep. Risa Hontiveros, estimated at between P6 billion and P15 billion, which was bigger than the entire state budget for state housing of P4.2 billion.
Villar is currently spending 10 times what Aquino was shelling out for his campaign ads. Even if his ad spending gets bigger with the start of the campaign, Aquino said Villar would still outspend him 2 to 1.
Aquino’s main fear was that the uninformed public would accept the image conveyed by the ads as reality.
He said his team’s goal was to make sure that the public would be apprised of the truth about his actions that conflict with his image, such as the C-5 double insertion issue where he caused the construction of a redundant and more expensive road project that primarily benefited his subdivisions.
Fans look for Kris
Aquino’s girlfriend, Valenzuela Councilor Shalani Soledad, was nowhere in sight. She was out campaigning for a congressional seat in Valenzuela. But she was hardly missed.
Aquino’s shrieking fans in Concepcion were looking for his popular sister Kris Aquino and her son Baby James.
“She is part of team creating materials (for the campaign) and she has plenty of obligations,” Aquino told reporters. “When she is here, they say I am using Kris. When she is not here, they ask where is Kris?” Aquino said, complaining about his dilemma.
Kris has been seen as a double-edged sword for Aquino—her popularity as attested to by the numerous companies that get her to endorse their products, has made the Aquino name even more popular; but her string of love affairs and tactless remarks have also made her a liability to Aquino.
Aquino said that Kris and her other sisters—Pinky Aquino-Abellada and Ballsy Aquino-Cruz—were his “surrogates” who would help cover all of the 80 provinces in less than 90 days.
“We will take turns because my schedule is also tight,” he said.
Another surprise was the presence of broadcast journalist Korina Sanchez who sat behind Roxas at Immaculate Conception Church. The couple ate fishballs at the church gates before the Mass.

source: inquirer
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Voters told: Shade whole ovals, do not 'overvote'

The right way to vote in the May elections is by fully shading the ovals opposite the printed names of candidates in the ballot, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Tuesday.
Comelec legal chief Ferdinand Rafanan also said voters should not ``overvote’’, or voting more than is necessary. For instance, if one is voting for the President, the voter should only shade one oval opposite the candidate he’s voting for. If he shades more than one oval for the President, the counting machine will invalidate the vote for the position.
Rafanan made the points during a voters’ education workshop here attended by 30 Nueva Vizcaya leaders in partnership with the Comelec’s citizens’ arm Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV).
He said that voters must learn these two steps so that the poll machines would count their votes.
“The most important thing that the voter should learn in the automated polls is to shade the ballots correctly and not to overvote. The manner of voting is not so very much hinged on the operation of the machine. The voter’s only interaction with the machine is when he feeds his accomplished ballot in the machine scanner for counting after which he should see it go inside the translucent ballot box,” said Rafanan.
The precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machine is an automation technology that uses an optical scanner which reads marked ballots fed into the machine. It would not read a check, a cross, a dot or a line written inside the oval, only a half or fully shaded oval, said the poll official.
While the poll machines are configured to read as a vote a half-shaded oval, Rafanan encouraged voters to fully shade the ovals to ensure that they are counted as vote.
“The poll machines operate in a way that it would read an oval with a threshold mark of at least 50 percent or simply, a half-shaded oval. But note that a half shade differs per person. So, voters should practice full shading of these ovals so they are 100 percent sure that their votes are counted correctly,” said Rafanan.
As guide to prevent an overvote, Rafanan said the ballots would also contain guidelines stating that a voter “can vote for not more than one candidate” for president, vice president and partylist and “not more than 12 candidates” for senator.
These instructions means a voter can undervote or select less than the total 12 senate candidates, for example, but not overvote, which is done by shading ovals of 13 senatorial bets instead of 12, would cause the machine to discard all votes for that office.
Rafanan also urged voters not to fold or put spurious marks on the ballot. He said this could compromise the ballot’s security features such as bar code or invisible UV ink and result in the rejection of the vote.
A voter would be given only one ballot, under the law.
“We will print only 50 million ballots for the close to 50 million registered voters. One voter is entitled to one ballot only, no more second chances in filling up another ballot,” Rafanan stressed.
Preparing a “kodigo” or list of candidates to be voted would also help the voter to shade the ballot faster, said Comelec commissioner Rene Sarmiento in another interview.
Since the new ballots would have the names of candidates arranged in number and in alphabetical order, Sarmiento said the “kodigo”or list should include both the name and the assigned number of a candidate.
Sarmiento also urged voters to help Comelec in monitoring election violations of candidates during the campaign period between February 9 to May 8 for national elective posts and from March 29 to May 8 for local bets. Comelec issued campaign guidelines on Monday.
To practice voting in the special ballots for automation, download sample ballots for non-ARMM and ARMM areas at the Comelec website

source: inquirer
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Villar allies no-show in Senate, stall vote on ethics rap

Allies of Senator Manny Villar were a no-show on Wednesday when the Senate resumed its session to discuss and probably vote on the ethics committee complaint that was filed against him.
Only 11 senators showed up at the session hall, not enough to conduct business.
Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile, who presided over the session, said the absence of the opposition group in the Senate was an "attempt" to prevent the disposition of the C-5 road project controversy.
"Some members opted not to attend the session to prevent the disposition of this matter," he further said.
Because of lack of quorum, Senate Majority Floor Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri then moved for the adjournment of the session but was stopped by Senator Ana Consuelo "Jamby" Madrigal.
Madrigal is the complainant in the ethics case filed against Villar, who allegedly used his position to benefit from the road project.
Madrigal invoked the rules of the committee, which would allow the Senate leader to order the arrest of the absent senators.
But Enrile rejected Madrigal's motion, saying he will like to be compassionate to colleagues.
Zubiri moved for the adjournment of the session.
Congress will resume session on May 31.

Source: Inquirer.net
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