by ANGELO S. SAMONTE Reporter (The Manila Times)
http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/top-stories/13653-palace-mocks-lps-vision
Voters should guard against the supposed vision of Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino 3rd when they choose the country’s next president in the May 10 elections, Malacañang said on Thursday.
“Even Sen. Aquino has stooped to claiming that the Arroyo government is worse than [that of] Marcos, whom he claims at least did not try to hide behind legalities. The senator’s anger at legalities and technicalities that get in the way of what seems to be the only brand of acceptable justice to him—his own—is a quality of his that our voters should ponder,” deputy spokesman Gary Olivar said.
President Gloria Arroyo “[did] not win all her battles in the past, but she has never gainsaid due process or legitimate authority when properly applied by other government entities even at her expense,” he added.
At the same time, Olivar said that it should be an eye-opener for the people the denunciation by the opposition and the Makati Business Club of a recent Supreme Court ruling saying that President Arroyo can appoint the next chief justice.
These critics, among them former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada, the Malacañang spokesman added, think of themselves as better judge of the issue, which Olivar said was a thought most unfortunate.
On Wednesday, Aquino, the Liberal Party standard-bearer, took another swipe at the President, accusing her of using the governance style of late former President Ferdinand Marcos as her “template.”
Unlike the Arroyo administration, he said, Marcos had at least legal cover for his actions.
Aquino noted that under the watch of Mrs. Arroyo, several controversies, including the “Hello, Garci” scandal, the P728-million fertilizer fund scam and the botched $330-million national broadband network deal, remain unresolved. The “Hello, Garci” scandal linked the President to alleged poll cheating in the 2004 elections, which she eventually won over opposition standard-bearer Fernando Poe Jr.
He said that if he won the presidency, he would create a commission charged with putting closure to all pending issues implicating the Arroyo administration in wrongdoing, including allegedly massive corruption.
Dominant minority party
The Liberal Party was engaged in another battle also on Thursday, this time with the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
In a petition, it asked the Comelec to junk a plea of the Nacionalista Party (NP) to be recognized as the dominant minority party in the May 10 polls.
Rep. Joseph Abaya, LP secretary general, made the appeal after leaders of the Nationalist People’s Coalition said that their party remains neutral and has not signed any agreement to ally with the NP.
In a statement, Abaya said that the supposed deal between NP president Sen. Manuel “Manny” Villar Jr. and NPC national chairman and former Rep. Faustino Dy Jr. of Isabela was just a “product of the fertile imagination” of the Nacionalista Party, for the NP to be able to dominate the elections.
He urged the Comelec to consider the public pronouncements of Rep. Mark Cojuangco of Pangasinan that he and his father, NPC founder and business tycoon, Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco Jr., and other party stalwarts have not agreed to enter into an alliance with the NP.
The dominant minority party would be entitled to get from the Comelec all copies of documents related to the May 10 polls, including certificates of canvass.
The Liberal Party also seemed besieged in other fronts.
With the race for vice president heating up, rivals Sen. Loren Legarda of the NP and Mayor Jejomar Binay of Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino ganged up on frontrunner Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas 2nd of the LP.
Legarda, in a statement, also on Thursday said that she would not stop questioning Roxas’ capability to be the country’s second-highest official.
The running mate of Villar, she was reacting to statements from her opponents that her criticism of Roxas was prompted by her poor showing in surveys.
Legarda had accused Roxas of voting for the value-added tax (VAT) and watering down the Cheaper Medicines Act, for which he had been claiming authorship.
The same accusation was hurled by Binay.
In another statement, he said that Roxas never stood up in Congress to denounce VAT.
Binay said that the original measure on cheaper drugs was filed by Vice Gov. Rolex Suplico of Iloilo, then a congressman, in 2004 during the Thirteenth Congress when Roxas was not yet a senator.
The bill was refiled by Rep. Ferjenel Biron during the Fourteenth Congress.
With reports from Cris G. Odronia and Francis Earl A. Cueto
Voters should guard against the supposed vision of Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino 3rd when they choose the country’s next president in the May 10 elections, Malacañang said on Thursday.
“Even Sen. Aquino has stooped to claiming that the Arroyo government is worse than [that of] Marcos, whom he claims at least did not try to hide behind legalities. The senator’s anger at legalities and technicalities that get in the way of what seems to be the only brand of acceptable justice to him—his own—is a quality of his that our voters should ponder,” deputy spokesman Gary Olivar said.
President Gloria Arroyo “[did] not win all her battles in the past, but she has never gainsaid due process or legitimate authority when properly applied by other government entities even at her expense,” he added.
At the same time, Olivar said that it should be an eye-opener for the people the denunciation by the opposition and the Makati Business Club of a recent Supreme Court ruling saying that President Arroyo can appoint the next chief justice.
These critics, among them former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada, the Malacañang spokesman added, think of themselves as better judge of the issue, which Olivar said was a thought most unfortunate.
On Wednesday, Aquino, the Liberal Party standard-bearer, took another swipe at the President, accusing her of using the governance style of late former President Ferdinand Marcos as her “template.”
Unlike the Arroyo administration, he said, Marcos had at least legal cover for his actions.
Aquino noted that under the watch of Mrs. Arroyo, several controversies, including the “Hello, Garci” scandal, the P728-million fertilizer fund scam and the botched $330-million national broadband network deal, remain unresolved. The “Hello, Garci” scandal linked the President to alleged poll cheating in the 2004 elections, which she eventually won over opposition standard-bearer Fernando Poe Jr.
He said that if he won the presidency, he would create a commission charged with putting closure to all pending issues implicating the Arroyo administration in wrongdoing, including allegedly massive corruption.
Dominant minority party
The Liberal Party was engaged in another battle also on Thursday, this time with the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
In a petition, it asked the Comelec to junk a plea of the Nacionalista Party (NP) to be recognized as the dominant minority party in the May 10 polls.
Rep. Joseph Abaya, LP secretary general, made the appeal after leaders of the Nationalist People’s Coalition said that their party remains neutral and has not signed any agreement to ally with the NP.
In a statement, Abaya said that the supposed deal between NP president Sen. Manuel “Manny” Villar Jr. and NPC national chairman and former Rep. Faustino Dy Jr. of Isabela was just a “product of the fertile imagination” of the Nacionalista Party, for the NP to be able to dominate the elections.
He urged the Comelec to consider the public pronouncements of Rep. Mark Cojuangco of Pangasinan that he and his father, NPC founder and business tycoon, Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco Jr., and other party stalwarts have not agreed to enter into an alliance with the NP.
The dominant minority party would be entitled to get from the Comelec all copies of documents related to the May 10 polls, including certificates of canvass.
The Liberal Party also seemed besieged in other fronts.
With the race for vice president heating up, rivals Sen. Loren Legarda of the NP and Mayor Jejomar Binay of Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino ganged up on frontrunner Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas 2nd of the LP.
Legarda, in a statement, also on Thursday said that she would not stop questioning Roxas’ capability to be the country’s second-highest official.
The running mate of Villar, she was reacting to statements from her opponents that her criticism of Roxas was prompted by her poor showing in surveys.
Legarda had accused Roxas of voting for the value-added tax (VAT) and watering down the Cheaper Medicines Act, for which he had been claiming authorship.
The same accusation was hurled by Binay.
In another statement, he said that Roxas never stood up in Congress to denounce VAT.
Binay said that the original measure on cheaper drugs was filed by Vice Gov. Rolex Suplico of Iloilo, then a congressman, in 2004 during the Thirteenth Congress when Roxas was not yet a senator.
The bill was refiled by Rep. Ferjenel Biron during the Fourteenth Congress.
With reports from Cris G. Odronia and Francis Earl A. Cueto
No comments:
Post a Comment