JPE says he’s worried about Villar’s poll spending

from Malaya

http://www.malaya.com.ph/03042010/news14.html

SENATE President Juan Ponce Enrile said yesterday it is "dangerous" for the country if Sen. Manuel Villar wins the presidency.

Speaking to reporters during a break in the campaign of the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP), Enrile said Villar is spending too much.

"You know it’s dangerous for people to spend too much money to attain an elective position. I cannot believe that a person, who will spend almost a fortune … which cannot be attained by so many Filipinos would do it only for public service. There must be something, more interesting motivation behind it. What kind of president will this kind of candidate be? It’s a very dangerous possibility," Enrile said.

"If your intention is really public service, you don’t have to spend that kind of money to render public service to the people. If you have that kind of money, all you have to do is put it into a foundation, donate it to the public and serve the people," he added.

A recent report by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) showed that Villar leads other presidential candidates in terms of print, TV and radio ads by spending as much as P1 billion since last year.

Enrile said Villar is only out to garner publicity that he is helping the poor to boost his presidential run.

"Why not before? Why only now? He should have shown that before aspiring for the elective position. You should have shown your bent to really improve your kind, if you really came from the poor. I came from the poor. There’s no question about it if you go to my province in Cagayan, they will tell you how poor I was, poorer than an ipis (cockroach) but I never talked about it. I did what I could to alleviate the problems of my own kind," he said.

Enrile said Sen. Richard Gordon had told him about the offer before the report on the involvement of Villar in the C-5 road controversy came out and efforts to oust him as Senate President was gaining ground but he decided to keep quiet.

Enrile said Gordon’s revelation did not come as a surprise to him.

"I think the least that I can say about him (Villar) is that he is trying very hard to become the president and he would do almost anything to get there," Enrile said. – Ashzel Hachero