BY RHAZDZ BARCIA Correspondent and JEFFERSON ANTIPORDA Reporter With reports from Angelo S. Samonte, Cris G. Odronia and Francis Earl A. Cueto
From The Manila Times
Link: http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/top-stories/14650-gibo-lays-claim-to-poll-win
LEGAZPI CITY, Albay: Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro on Monday ditched the surveys and declared virtually his the presidency at stake in the May 10 elections.
“We’re heading to victory. [We are] the strongest political force and party in the country and I don’t care about surveys,” Teodoro told reporters during a press conference here held at the residence of Rep. Edcel Lagman of Albay (first district) and concurrent Bicol regional chairman of the ruling party, Lakas-Kampi Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD).
The standard-bearer of the administration coalition cited the support of 85 percent of their political allies in local governments across the country.
After a motorcade through parts of the first district where he was cheered by thousands of supporters, Teodoro attended the opening of Magayon Festival, a month-long economic and cultural celebration in Albay province.
Main roads of the province significantly turned green, the campaign color of the Malacañang candidate for president.
Underdog bet
During a grand rally at Penaranda Park here, Lagman said that Teodoro’s victory is certain despite the Lakas-Kampi CMD bet ranking fourth in the surveys for the most part.
“He [Teodoro] might be the underdog in [those polls] but the people across the country are strongly supporting his candidacy,” Lagman said without elaborating.
Gov. Joey Salceda of Albay held the same view.
“Dae po kita nadadara kan surveys, dae po kita mapalansi sa mga propaganda. [You do not commission a survey to choose the one you love. No survey rankings will make you more qualified for the presidency],” he said. “Dae man madugang an timbang kan copra por medio sa pagpesar. [No survey will make a wrong right and no survey will make someone right very wrong]. We know what is right,” Salceda told thousands who attended the grand rally.
He said that it is the “moral duty” of the people of Albay to vote for Teodoro in next month’s balloting.
“We know who is the right person to be voted to the presidency, so let us vote for what is right for our country and our children, for what is fair to our poor and to our future. We vote for Gibo because it is good for our country and it is the right thing to do. All politics is local. He will not just be another president of the Philippines or even the best president the country will ever have but, more than that, we will have the best Philippines under any other president,” Salceda added.
If elected as successor to President Gloria Arroyo, Teodoro said that he will strengthen disaster-risk management especially in Bicol and other vulnerable regions, push for completion of Daraga International Airport, modernize sea ports and develop agriculture, among other priorities.
Like Lagman and Salceda, Malacañang also on Monday stood by its candidate for president.
According to Palace deputy spokesman Gary Olivar, President Arroyo need not reassure Teodoro of her support because she already did so in the past.
That backing, Olivar said, remains despite the administration standard-bearer having resigned as chairman of Lakas-Kampi CMD.
Teodoro “already stated that the reason he left the chairmanship was to focus on his candidacy and the party could have a full-time chairman that could focus on party matters. The President has helped him in expediting the replacement of the top management team at the administration party,” he added.
Close ties
Detained Brig. Gen. Danilo “Danny” Lim also on Monday said that Teodoro is a credible and worthy candidate, his only drawback being his close ties with Mrs. Arroyo.
In a statement, Lim, a guest senatorial candidate of the Liberal Party (LP) and the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP), claimed that the President only besmirches Teodoro’s image and reputation.
But Teodoro, according to his cousin and the LP standard-bearer, Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino 3rd, may have known from the start the risks of running in the Malacañang ticket.
From The Manila Times
Link: http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/top-stories/14650-gibo-lays-claim-to-poll-win
LEGAZPI CITY, Albay: Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro on Monday ditched the surveys and declared virtually his the presidency at stake in the May 10 elections.
“We’re heading to victory. [We are] the strongest political force and party in the country and I don’t care about surveys,” Teodoro told reporters during a press conference here held at the residence of Rep. Edcel Lagman of Albay (first district) and concurrent Bicol regional chairman of the ruling party, Lakas-Kampi Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD).
The standard-bearer of the administration coalition cited the support of 85 percent of their political allies in local governments across the country.
After a motorcade through parts of the first district where he was cheered by thousands of supporters, Teodoro attended the opening of Magayon Festival, a month-long economic and cultural celebration in Albay province.
Main roads of the province significantly turned green, the campaign color of the Malacañang candidate for president.
Underdog bet
During a grand rally at Penaranda Park here, Lagman said that Teodoro’s victory is certain despite the Lakas-Kampi CMD bet ranking fourth in the surveys for the most part.
“He [Teodoro] might be the underdog in [those polls] but the people across the country are strongly supporting his candidacy,” Lagman said without elaborating.
Gov. Joey Salceda of Albay held the same view.
“Dae po kita nadadara kan surveys, dae po kita mapalansi sa mga propaganda. [You do not commission a survey to choose the one you love. No survey rankings will make you more qualified for the presidency],” he said. “Dae man madugang an timbang kan copra por medio sa pagpesar. [No survey will make a wrong right and no survey will make someone right very wrong]. We know what is right,” Salceda told thousands who attended the grand rally.
He said that it is the “moral duty” of the people of Albay to vote for Teodoro in next month’s balloting.
“We know who is the right person to be voted to the presidency, so let us vote for what is right for our country and our children, for what is fair to our poor and to our future. We vote for Gibo because it is good for our country and it is the right thing to do. All politics is local. He will not just be another president of the Philippines or even the best president the country will ever have but, more than that, we will have the best Philippines under any other president,” Salceda added.
If elected as successor to President Gloria Arroyo, Teodoro said that he will strengthen disaster-risk management especially in Bicol and other vulnerable regions, push for completion of Daraga International Airport, modernize sea ports and develop agriculture, among other priorities.
Like Lagman and Salceda, Malacañang also on Monday stood by its candidate for president.
According to Palace deputy spokesman Gary Olivar, President Arroyo need not reassure Teodoro of her support because she already did so in the past.
That backing, Olivar said, remains despite the administration standard-bearer having resigned as chairman of Lakas-Kampi CMD.
Teodoro “already stated that the reason he left the chairmanship was to focus on his candidacy and the party could have a full-time chairman that could focus on party matters. The President has helped him in expediting the replacement of the top management team at the administration party,” he added.
Close ties
Detained Brig. Gen. Danilo “Danny” Lim also on Monday said that Teodoro is a credible and worthy candidate, his only drawback being his close ties with Mrs. Arroyo.
In a statement, Lim, a guest senatorial candidate of the Liberal Party (LP) and the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP), claimed that the President only besmirches Teodoro’s image and reputation.
But Teodoro, according to his cousin and the LP standard-bearer, Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino 3rd, may have known from the start the risks of running in the Malacañang ticket.
“Siguro, panghuli na lang siyang biktima ng kasalukuyang administrasyon [Maybe, he is the last victim of the administration]. So, welcome to the club [is what I will tell him],” he told San Rafael (Bulacan) folk during a sortie there.
The Nacionalista Party (NP), which is fielding Sen. Manuel “Manny” Villar Jr. as its candidate for president, seemed to have magnified the risks.
Mrs. Arroyo endorsing Teodoro, it said also on Monday, was not just a “kiss of death” but also a “touch of death.”
‘Secret’ backing
The statement was a reaction to reports that the President and her husband, Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, were “secretly” backing the candidacy of Villar, not that of Teodoro.
NP senatorial bet Adel Tamano denied the reports.
“First of all, Gloria is not just a ‘kiss of death,’ [she is] a ‘touch of death.’ If you want to lose the [May 10] elections, just have your hand raised by President Arroyo. For example, Gibo should be a very strong candidate but because he is close to [the President], his ratings are very low. Ang tanga naman namin sa NP at si Manny Villar kung manghihingi kami ng tulong kay Mrs. Arroyo [It would be stupid of the party and Senator Villar to ask the President for help],” Tamano said during an interview in ABS-CBN’s television show Umagang kay Ganda.
He added, “Very simply, the NP and Manny do not need [Mrs. Arroyo’s] help. We do not want it. We are very happy that she is helping Gibo, not us.”
Olivar said that Malacañang did not want to offer Teodoro any advice on how to deal with campaign issues because its candidate could handle them effectively.
Besides, Mrs. Arroyo “has always maintained that governance will be her top priority and campaigning whether for herself or even for the standard-bearer always comes second. Because you can always have campaigners everyday but you can only have one president at any time,” he added.
The President is running for a seat in the House of Representatives, seeking to represent the second district of her home province Pampanga in the chamber.
In Lubao, Mrs. Arroyo’s home town, Lakas-Kampi CMD Chairman Amelita Villarosa also on Monday denied rumors about a shake-up in the administration party, saying the supposed reshuffle was just propaganda being sown by the opposition.
Villarosa, also the House Deputy Speaker, also denied that there is a problem about funding the campaign of the administration party.
At least two senatorial candidates of the administration party—former Justice Secretary Silvestre “Bebot” Bello 3rd and lawyer Raul Lambino—also on Monday said that they will press their bids with whatever support they can get from the party.
“Well, actually it’s politics. We’re now on the end trail of the campaign and dirty tricks will not disappear. But for us, we do not mind them. We focus ourselves on the campaign and we’re doing all right, we have no problem,” she told reporters at the sidelines of the 63rd birthday celebration of the President in the town.
Public perception
The rumors about party the shake-up, Villarosa said, were actually good for Teodoro because the public would now perceive that Teodoro is an underdog.
They “are working to his benefit. He is now the talk of the town. He is, in a way, being helped with these [rumors]. You know Filipinos, they favor underdogs. This [underdog perception] is working to his benefit, I think,” she added.
Apparently such perception is favoring Teodoro, at least according to a survey whose results were released also on Monday by a publications group.
The administration candidate placed second to Aquino in the online poll launched by the Journal Group of publications on January 6.
At third spot was former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada of PMP.
Of the 35,699 respondents to the Journal Group survey, 14,993 (42 percent) voted for Aquino, 10,630 (29.8 percent) for Teodoro and 3,134 (8.8 percent) for Estrada.
At fourth was Sen. Richard “Dick” Gordon (Bagumbayan) with 8.2 percent, or 2,931 votes, followed by Villar, 7.5 percent, or 2,676 votes.
The Nacionalista Party (NP), which is fielding Sen. Manuel “Manny” Villar Jr. as its candidate for president, seemed to have magnified the risks.
Mrs. Arroyo endorsing Teodoro, it said also on Monday, was not just a “kiss of death” but also a “touch of death.”
‘Secret’ backing
The statement was a reaction to reports that the President and her husband, Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, were “secretly” backing the candidacy of Villar, not that of Teodoro.
NP senatorial bet Adel Tamano denied the reports.
“First of all, Gloria is not just a ‘kiss of death,’ [she is] a ‘touch of death.’ If you want to lose the [May 10] elections, just have your hand raised by President Arroyo. For example, Gibo should be a very strong candidate but because he is close to [the President], his ratings are very low. Ang tanga naman namin sa NP at si Manny Villar kung manghihingi kami ng tulong kay Mrs. Arroyo [It would be stupid of the party and Senator Villar to ask the President for help],” Tamano said during an interview in ABS-CBN’s television show Umagang kay Ganda.
He added, “Very simply, the NP and Manny do not need [Mrs. Arroyo’s] help. We do not want it. We are very happy that she is helping Gibo, not us.”
Olivar said that Malacañang did not want to offer Teodoro any advice on how to deal with campaign issues because its candidate could handle them effectively.
Besides, Mrs. Arroyo “has always maintained that governance will be her top priority and campaigning whether for herself or even for the standard-bearer always comes second. Because you can always have campaigners everyday but you can only have one president at any time,” he added.
The President is running for a seat in the House of Representatives, seeking to represent the second district of her home province Pampanga in the chamber.
In Lubao, Mrs. Arroyo’s home town, Lakas-Kampi CMD Chairman Amelita Villarosa also on Monday denied rumors about a shake-up in the administration party, saying the supposed reshuffle was just propaganda being sown by the opposition.
Villarosa, also the House Deputy Speaker, also denied that there is a problem about funding the campaign of the administration party.
At least two senatorial candidates of the administration party—former Justice Secretary Silvestre “Bebot” Bello 3rd and lawyer Raul Lambino—also on Monday said that they will press their bids with whatever support they can get from the party.
“Well, actually it’s politics. We’re now on the end trail of the campaign and dirty tricks will not disappear. But for us, we do not mind them. We focus ourselves on the campaign and we’re doing all right, we have no problem,” she told reporters at the sidelines of the 63rd birthday celebration of the President in the town.
Public perception
The rumors about party the shake-up, Villarosa said, were actually good for Teodoro because the public would now perceive that Teodoro is an underdog.
They “are working to his benefit. He is now the talk of the town. He is, in a way, being helped with these [rumors]. You know Filipinos, they favor underdogs. This [underdog perception] is working to his benefit, I think,” she added.
Apparently such perception is favoring Teodoro, at least according to a survey whose results were released also on Monday by a publications group.
The administration candidate placed second to Aquino in the online poll launched by the Journal Group of publications on January 6.
At third spot was former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada of PMP.
Of the 35,699 respondents to the Journal Group survey, 14,993 (42 percent) voted for Aquino, 10,630 (29.8 percent) for Teodoro and 3,134 (8.8 percent) for Estrada.
At fourth was Sen. Richard “Dick” Gordon (Bagumbayan) with 8.2 percent, or 2,931 votes, followed by Villar, 7.5 percent, or 2,676 votes.
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