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.