Loren lashes out at bashers

BY JP LOPEZ (Malaya)
Link: http://www.malaya.com.ph/04232010/news9.html

BACOLOD CITY – Nacionalista Party vice presidential candidate Loren Legarda on Thursday described as "delusional" the candidates of Liberal Party for linking her and her party to the move of Andal Ampatuan Jr., prime suspect in the Maguindanao massacre, to endorse the candidacy of Benigno Aquino III and his running-mate Manuel Roxas II.

"My only response is one word, delusional. Wag kayo mawawala sa sarili!" she said.

"Yung presidential candidate, yung president nila wala sa isip, yung vice presidential candidate nagpapadyak, umiiyak pag nag-aalyansa ang NP-NPC. Yung mga kanditotong vice president at pagka-senador delusional. Sana magpakatotoo naman ang mga Liberal. Wag naman delusional," she added.

Sen. Edgardo Angara said it was malicious of the LP to link him, through his lawyers, to the endorsement of Ampatuan, who last week proclaimed he was for the NP’s Manny Villar.

The endorsement was made in a press conference held by the detainee.

Legarda pulls out ads, uses funds to feed the poor

By Michael Lim Ubac (Philippine Daily Inquirer )
Link: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100422-265750/Legarda-pulls-out-ads-uses-funds-to-feed-the-poor

MANILA, Philippines—Vice presidential candidate Loren Legarda last week pulled out her solo TV advertisements, diverting funds to regular feeding programs dubbed “Lingkod Loren” in depressed areas in Metro Manila.

The move could turn out to be a political suicide since her main rival, Sen. Mar Roxas, airs about 20 TV ad spots a day.

The prime time rate, including spots in news programs, is P303,015.30 per 30-second ad, not including the 12-percent value-added tax.

“The politics of hunger is the politics we must address now,” said Legarda, urging candidates running for elective posts in May not to neglect the plight of poor and hungry Filipinos.

“Amidst the political noise and mudslinging, millions of Filipinos go hungry everyday; some die of hunger or lack of access to medicines,” she said.

It’s official: NPC backing Villar, Loren candidacy

BY FRANCIS EARL A. CUETO Reporter (The Manila Times)
Link: http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/top-stories/15701-its-official-npc-backing-villar-loren-candidacy

It’s official.

The Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) formally supported the candidacy of Nacionalista Party standard-bearer Sen. Manuel “Manny” Villar Jr. and that of his running mate Sen. Loren Legarda.

“We are now formally supporting the candidacies of Sen. Villar and Sen. Legarda,” NPC spokesman and Rep. Rex Gatchalian of Valenzuela City (Metro Manila) told reporters during a press conference on Tuesday.

Also present at the gathering were Legarda and Mayor Sherwin Gatchalian of Valenzuela City.

Rep. Gatchalian said that the “party machinery of NP and NPC and LDP [Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino headed by Sen. Edgardo Angara], as well, are solidly behind the candidacies of our national candidates.”

Despite rains, thousands attend Villar concert

By HANNAH L. TORREGOZA ( Manila Bulletin )
Link: http://mb.com.ph/articles/253588/despite-rains-thousands-attend-villar-concert

DAVAO CITY — The heavy rains failed to dampen the mood of ardent supporters of presidential candidate Sen. Manuel Villar, Jr. who trooped to the Nacionalista Party’s “Rockatropa" concert rally held at an open football field here.

They were ready with their umbrellas the minute the rain poured down heavily. Instead of dispersing, the crowd, an estimated 120,000, stayed put and endured a “wet and wild” concert at the Tionco Football Field.

The crowd shrieked, screamed and even gamely danced when celebrity host Willie Revillame started his “Giling-giling” and “Chuchurot” intermission number.

Singer-host Randy Santiago said the rain is “a sign of blessing” for Villar and his NP ticket.

Villar’s running mate NP vice presidential candidate Sen. Loren Legarda was also present during the rally.

Erap flays GMA-7 for smear job

By Gerry Baldo

From The Daily Tribune

Link: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100412hed2.html

As his numbers rise in the surveys, Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) standard bearer former President Joseph Estrada said the media are again demonizing him.

Estrada, in an interview during a campaign rally in Malabon on Friday, accused GMA-7 of kicking off a demolition job on him when it came out with a report about his Statement of Assets Liabilities and Networth (SALN) a few days ago.

“They have started the smear job against me, about my SALN. It was all too sudden after my rating at number three started to go up,” he said.

Estrada expressed apprehensions that the media would again ruin his image similar to when he was ousted in 2001.

“My ratings have started to improve and the demonization scheme was started by Channel 7

yesterday,” he said. He added that despite such efforts from media his supporters had not left him.

“Inspite of the demonization of the media when I was incarcerated, the people has not left me. To prove that, Dr. Loi, my wife, and my son, Jinggoy, were elected as senators even if I was incarcerated. They were elected as senators when I was behind bars. That goes to show that the masses have never left me inspite of the demonization of the media against me,” he said.

Estrada also compared to his past movies where he has portrayed the role of the underdog who later on always won his fight in the end, his bid for the presidency.

“Like in the movies I have always been an underdog, but in the end I always win,” Estrada told reporters.

Estrada, reacting to reports that he is trailing behind the presidential race in a three-cornered fight between him and senators Benigno Aquino III of the Liberal Party and Manny Villar of the Nationalista Party, said that he is taking his chances.

“I’m a risk taker ok, I am a risk taker...” he said in an interview that was incessantly interrupted by campaign jingles of his partymates who were delivering their pieces on the stage set up in the middle of a road in Malabon.

Estrada also said that nobody can stop him from pursuing the presidency that was forcibly taken away from him in 2001.

“Nobody can stop me and nobody can make me withdraw. Only death can make me withdraw,” he said despite offers for him to withdraw from the race and despite the party’s meagre resources.

NO FREE PASS FOR PRE-CAMPAIGN ADS Top bets liable for breach of ethics; donors for taxes

By Malou Mangahas (Malaya) Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
http://www.malaya.com.ph/03232010/news4.html

THEY probably thought they got a free pass to flood television with political ads beyond the airtime and spending limits set in law, having run commercials before the 90-day campaign period could start last February 9.

But the top candidates for president and vice president, as well as those who donated and bankrolled their pre-campaign ads, had better think again, according to lawyers and officials of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

By the letter and spirit of anti-graft and tax laws, say the lawyers and tax officials, their pre-campaign period airing of political ads does not free the candidates and their donors of all liabilities.

By PCIJ’s calculations, the combined actual ad spending of six presidential candidates and four vice-presidential candidates from November 1, 2009 to February 8, 2010 comes up to P1.472 billion. By most standards, the amount is huge enough to compromise these candidates, most of whom are incumbent public officials.

The figure is also huge enough to shore up the tax collection drive of the BIR amid the country’s rising fiscal deficit -- if the candidates’ donors have paid taxes.

Just last week, BIR Commissioner Joel Tan-Torres said his agency has collected only P100 million from the five-percent withholding tax slapped on all political contributions and campaign expenditures of candidates during the campaign period.

Vice presidential bets trade barbs in debate

By Aurea Calica – With Perseus Echeminada, Mike Frialde, Pia Lee-Brago (The Philippine Star) 

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=560521&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - Six candidates for vice president traded barbs and grilled each other during a televised debate aired last Sunday night.

Leading vice presidential candidate Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas II of the Liberal Party had a face-off with Sen. Loren Legarda of the Nationalist People’s Coalition and the Nacionalista Party, who criticized her main rival over the expanded value added tax, Cheaper Medicine Law and land distribution.

Legarda was fierce in grilling Roxas, who implied that she was a hypocrite and a political butterfly for transferring to various parties.

The debate dubbed as “Harapan” was organized by ABS-CBN and held at the La Consolacion College in Manila. Members of the audience were each given a “truth meter” and were told to vote on whether the answer of the candidates was “believable” or “not believable.”

Roxas registered high scores on the believability of his answers while Legarda did poorly despite her attacks on the LP bet every chance she got. Roxas laughed off some of the issues raised by Legarda.

Legarda and Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay, the vice presidential bet of Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino, gave dramatic opening and closing remarks to the viewers while former Metro Manila Development Authority chairman Bayani Fernando of Bagumbayan even wore an engineer’s hat to call attention to his training and his qualifications to be vice president.

Villar vows justice for Luisita victims

By Christina Mendez (The Philippine Star)  

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=560191&publicationSubCategoryId=63

TARLAC City, Philippines – Nacionalista Party (NP) standard-bearer Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. and running mate Sen. Loren Legarda (Nationalist People’s Coalition) vowed to pursue justice for the victims of the so-called Hacienda Luisita massacre five years ago.

Villar and Legarda, along with NP senatorial bets Adel Tamano, Toots Ople, Gilbert Remulla and Ilocos Norte Rep. Bongbong Marcos campaigned last Saturday in the home province of Liberal Party (LP) standard-bearer, Sen. Noynoy Aquino.

Villar said he would allow the wheels of justice to run their course if he becomes president and would look into the issue of land distribution after the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) under the administration of Aquino’s mother, former President Corazon Aquino, failed in their family-owned Hacienda Luisita.

Legarda, on the other hand, said that those who have committed crimes and human rights violations in connection with the massacre should be brought to court.

She also took potshots at Aquino, saying that a candidate who has no respect for the rule of law and tolerated the killing of the aggrieved Luisita farmers should not be elected to the presidency.

Tamano expressed concern that the issues surrounding the non-compliance of the Aquino-Cojuangco clans to subject the 7,000-hectare Hacienda Luisita to land reform will not be resolved under an Aquino presidency.

To save republic in case of failure of elections’ Angara calls fore election of new Senate president

By Christine Avendaño (Philippine Daily Inquirer)  

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100321-260029/To-save-republic-in-case-of-failure-of-elections
a
MANILA, Philippines -- Saying that ``civilian authority'' should move early to save the duly constituted government from a possible failure of the May 10 polls, Senator Edgardo Angara called for the election of a new Senate president among the senators serving until 2013.

He also sought for the Church and business community to use their ``prestige and moral influence'' in averting an ``unprecedented'' power vacuum after the elections.

Interviewed by the Philippine Daily Inquirer after he spoke on dzBB radio about the need for a ``civilian solution'' to the possible failure of the first ever automated polls in the country, Angara said that all 23 senators could meet and elect a new Senate president before the polls even if Congress was in recess for the election campaign.

``We can convene under our internal rules,'' Angara said in a phone interview.

On radio, Angara said there have been jitters on the possible takeover of the military should a failure of election occur because the country could be facing an ``unprecedented'' and ``unusual'' political situation brought about by a vacuum in the political leadership after June 30.

He said the president, vice president, Senate president and Speaker of the House have been set to step down from power midnight of June 30 and thus, there would be no ``interim'' president that can preside should the May 10 polls end up a failure.

Legarda worried over possible poll fraud

By Christina Mendez (The Philippine Star) 

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=559640&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - With the first poll automation this May, vice-presidential candidate Loren Legarda (NP-NPC) expressed fears yesterday over possible poll fraud.

During The STAR’s vice presidential series, Legarda admitted that it would be a big challenge for her and the Nacionalista Party, led by running mate Sen. Manuel Villar, to protect their votes.

Legarda, who decried poll fraud in the 2004 elections, noted the contrast in the manual and automated elections, making it hard to detect poll manipulations in May.

“I can’t use the lessons learned in 2004 now because it’s computerized. One cannot imagine how to fight the fraud in computerized elections,” she said.

She called for vigilance to help protect their votes and ensure the victory of the entire NP slate in the elections.

“The challenge is that the preparedness in vigilance and guarding your votes is different in 2004 when it was still manual voting. So I don’t know how to guard my votes, I let my people in the party and Manny to help protect our votes together,” she said.

Legarda, who has gone through four national elections as senator and then vice president in 2004 and this year, noted that election now is “more expensive because my rivals have more resources than I do.”

She noted that her main rival, Sen. Manuel Roxas II, has spent a billion pesos in political advertisements for the past two years when he started gearing up for the presidency.

She said she decided to run for vice-president because she thinks she can do more to help the Filipino people.

“Why am I running for vice? At 50, there is not much more I would want in life. God has been good to me. While I have made mistakes, I also had triumphs. While I had many sad moments, I also had many blessings. I believe I can do much as vice-president for now and help my president.”

She said she would still continue her United Nations assignment for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation even if she becomes vice-president.

Defending Villar

Shrugging off criticisms of her sudden decision to run with Villar, Legarda said she was left with no running mate when Sen. Francis Escudero suddenly dropped from the presidential race. Legarda and Escudero were being groomed then by the Nationalist People’s Coalition as running mates.

“In 1995, I did not know Manny Villar from Adam, yet I choose him as one of the 10 most admired Filipinos of that year. I admired him from a distance because I read about him in a foreign magazine as the brown taipan,” she said, recalling her stint with “Inside Story,” a public affairs program with ABS-CBN.

She said Villar’s rag to riches story got her interested even then.

Believing that Villar would win the elections, Legarda defended her vote against Villar during a coup in the Senate in the November 2007.

“I am the 14th person that Manny approached to get my vote for the Senate President. And I told him I committed my vote for Nene (Pimentel), he is also a good man and a colleague,” she explained.

“When you don’t vote for a colleague, it does not mean you don’t like him or you hate him. That’s the dynamics in the Senate, you don’t always vote together.”

“It’s not an ouster, but as I said, when you vote for another colleague, it does not mean he is your enemy. We don’t take things personally.”

On Erap

In her role in the impeachment move against former President Joseph Estrada, Legarda said she would have wanted that the process led to a fair judgment.

“On hindsight now, the process should have commenced. We should have allowed the defense to present its case and there should have been a verdict so there was a fair judgment and a fair court,” she said.

'I won't take part in ouster moves'

By Christina Mendez (The Philippine Star)
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=559628&publicationSubCategoryId=63

Philippines - Vice presidential candidate Sen. Loren Legarda vowed yesterday that if elected, she would not take part in any move to oust the next president.

“I will never be part of any coup, impeachment, anything that will disrupt the democratic processes and smooth governance of our country. Our country has been on a political roller coaster, which has been a setback in our development for decades and we are now the laggards of Asia,” said Legarda, a member of the Nationalist People’s Coalition and a guest candidate of the Nacionalista Party headed by presidential bet Sen. Manny Villar.

Legarda told the The STAR editors during the newspaper’s vice-presidential series that the vice-president should remain loyal to the president.

She said the country had not moved forward since Mrs. Arroyo became president as a result of the EDSA People Power II.

Legarda expressed support for bloc voting so the people could elect a president and president from one party to avoid any conflict in platforms and governance.

Legarda also pledged her commitment to be a good, supportive and collaborative vice president to Villar if they win in the May 10 elections.

Legarda lamented that the nine years of the Arroyo administration has failed because the President has been “trying to survive a presidency.”

“I think that is largely because of our destructive, counter productive politics. I think we should start unifying our people instead of being so divisive. That is perhaps because governance has failed and much entrenched corruption has not been stemmed. I think it has even worsened and that’s very unfortunate,” said Legarda.

“The nine years have not really served the interests of the poorest of the poor whose lives have even worsened, because when you assumed office not from an election but through succession, maybe that’s the challenge, the Herculean task that Mrs. Arroyo had to overcome,” Legarda added.

Legarda, however, does not believe that President Arroyo had destroyed the institutions of government.

“I believe that the institutions will always be there. I don’t think a president who has not been successful in his or her term can destroy the institutions,” she said, adding that it’s up to the next leaders to rebuild the trust in these institutions.

It was at this point that Legarda reiterated the need for the people to choose the next leaders, who do not thrive in the politics of hate and those who do not rely on the famous last names of their parents.

Although she did not name names, she was obviously referring to the Liberal Party’s standard-bearer Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino and his running mate Sen. Mar Roxas II.

Cabinet post for vice president

Legarda said she believes that her president (referring to Villar) knows her capabilities and that she can shine in whatever position would be assigned to her.

Legarda said she could handle any Cabinet post as she cited her vast background in leading various committees at the Senate.

“My president will use me where I am suited,” she said.

Legarda said that she would be a collaborative and supportive vice-president.

Loren hits Mar

Legarda also took potshots at her rival, Sen. Mar Roxas II, whom she lambasted for not being true to his political advertisements.

She also turned the tables on Roxas, whose camp has been attacking the NP, particularly Villar, for spending too much for political advertisements.

Roxas’ political ads are “fake,” adding that his decision to slide down from president to vice president was a good exit plan because he failed to get high ratings in his presidential bid, she said.

“It (sliding down) was not a sacrifice, it was an exit plan. His single digit (rating) did not go up,” she said.

Legarda said Roxas had spent almost a billion pesos in the past three years since he started his campaign for the presidency.

She said her rival had done all the stunts from riding a pedicab while wearing leather shoes, to crying in noontime shows and yet his single digit rating did not go up.

“So it’s not a sacrifice as they made it appear, it’s a good exit plan. He has even Noynoy to thank that he is now running for vice-president,” Legarda said.

Loren’s lovelife

She said the “state of her love life” is like “El Niño” where there is drought.

Legarda also brushed aside rumors linking her to older men, including fellow Sen. Edgardo Angara.

“I can categorically say straight. No senator of the Philippines has ever courted me in the past 12 years since 1998 to 2010,” she said.

“You know Ed (Angara) is such a kind, selfless (colleague). Angara is the president of the LDP (Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino) and in 2004, he put FPJ (actor Fernando Poe Jr.) and me together,” Legarda explained. “If elder men admire me or younger men, colleagues from Senate or whatever, that’s just it.”

She added she is not attracted to men without brains. “I am not attracted to hunks, I am not attracted to overly handsome men who have nothing between their ears. I admire men who are good human beings, who are humanitarians and kind to people,” Legarda added.

Legarda said she does not like glamorous men. “I get attracted to intellect,” Legarda said, but added that she, however, has a “waistline requirement.”

Palace mocks LP’s ‘vision’

Noynoy an island unto himself, says spokesman

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.

NP won’t let Noynoy get away on Luisita

from Malaya

http://www.malaya.com.ph/03192010/news10.html
 
THE Nacionalista Party yesterday said Liberal Party presidential bet Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III has shown his "callousness and insensitivity" towards the poor for saying that his family on the maternal side – the Cojuangcos -- is the oppressed party in the Hacienda Luisita land dispute.

"Aquino family oppressed? Tell it to the Hacienda farmers," NP spokesman and senatorial bet Adel Tamano said.

Aquino, in a campaign sortie in Catarman, Samar Wednesday, said his family has been unduly put at a disadvantage by parties out to distort the facts about the Hacienda Luisita issue to derail his presidential bid. He said his opponents have been using the Hacienda Luisita issue as a political issue.

The New York Times on Sunday quoted Aquino’s cousin Fernando Cojuangco as saying the family has no intention to part with Hacienda Luisita, contrary to Aquino’s promise to distribute the sugar estate to farmers within five years of his presidency.

Tamano said Aquino should face the families of the 13 farmers who died in the Mendiola massacre, as well as the heirs of the seven farmers who were killed in the Hacienda Luisita massacre. This is not to mention about 15 farmers who were killed in Lupao, a day after Mendiola Massacre, on suspicion that they were communist rebels.

Aside from them, 74 farmers were injured in Mendiola and 121 in Luisita.

Roxas, Binay, Legarda splurge millions on ads

It’s air war for vice prez bets, too
by CHE DE LOS REYES (Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism - Malaya)

http://www.malaya.com.ph/03192010/news8.html


IT’S AN air war for now for the candidates for president; it’s an air war for their running mates, too.

Just like their parties’ standard bearers, the leading candidates for vice president have poured in hundreds of millions of pesos on political advertisements on television.

The official campaign period started only last February 9, but from November 2009 to February 8, 2010, four candidates for vice president -- Liberal Party’s Manuel ‘Mar’ Roxas III, Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino’s Jejomar ‘Jojo’ Binay, Nacionalista Party’s Loren Legarda, and Bagumbayan Party’s Bayani Fernando -- had already incurred a total of P561.5 million in advertising values for television, radio, and print ads.

Minus discounts of up to 47 percent granted by media agencies at the time, the net indicative spending on these candidates’ political ads amount to P294,417,894.

In the first month of the 90-day campaign period, or when campaign finance laws also started to take effect, the four showed more tempered spending, as did their running mates.

From February 9 to March 8, 2010, the combined spending on political ads of the four candidates and Bangon Pilipinas’s Perfecto Yasay Jr. amounted to only P167,814,890, according to published rate cards of media agencies.

Minus discounts allowed by the Commission on Elections (at the rate of 30, 20, and 10 percent for TV, radio, and print, respectively), the combined indicative cost of these candidates’ political ads during the 28-day period amounted to only P144,327,68.

Some candidates, however, may now be counting on dividends from their early investments in political commercials.

Noynoy, Mar most trusted in Pulse poll

by ROMMEL C. LONTAYAO (The Manila Times)
http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/top-stories/13580-noynoy-mar-most-trusted-in-pulse-poll
 
Liberal Party standard-bearer Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino 3rd emerged as the most trusted presidential candidate, according to the latest survey conducted by Pulse Asia.

Aquino got a trust rating of 64 percent while his closest rival, Sen. Manuel “Manny” Villar Jr. of the Nacionalista Party, slid down to 59 percent, said the survey conducted by Pulse Asia from February 21 to 25.

Villar had a 70-percent trust rating a month earlier.

Aquino’s running mate, Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas 2nd, also had the highest trust rating among vice presidential candidates with 70 percent.

Only 14 percent of voters said that they had “small/no trust” for Aquino, with the rest saying that they were undecided.

Former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada of Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino came in third, with a 40-percent trust rating followed by administration bet Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro with 29 percent and Sen. Richrad “Dick” Gordon of Bagumbayan Movement with 25 percent.

Among the other vice presidential bets, Sen. Loren Legarda, Villar’s running mate, got a 58-percent trust rating, a 3-percent drop from her January rating. Following Legarda was Mayor Jejomar Binay of Makati City, Estrada’s running mate, who got 45 percent while former Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chairman Bayani Fernando, Gordon’s vice presidential bet, got 22 percent.

Villar on Noynoy's debate challenge: Anytime, anywhere

By Christina Mendez (The Philippine Star)

Link: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=558165&publicationSubCategoryId=63

NAVAL, Biliran, Philippines – Nacionalista Party (NP) standard-bearer Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. yesterday said he is ready for a one-on-one debate with Liberal Party standard-bearer Sen. Noynoy Aquino so long as the debate will be conducted in a “neutral area” and with fair moderators.

“I have long accepted that challenge. My only condition is that the hosts will be neutral and fair,” said Villar at the sidelines of the NP’s campaign sortie at the Naval State University. “Anytime, anywhere.”

NP vice presidential candidate Sen. Loren Legarda said she is also ready to debate with LP vice presidential Sen. Manuel Roxas II, who is leading the surveys.

“If Mar Roxas wants to prove that he’s more fit than I am to be vice president, he should be ready to debate with me on issues,” Legarda said during a break in their campaign in Northern Samar last Saturday.

Legarda expressed displeasure upon learning from her staff that black propaganda text messages against her are spreading.

“It’s one of the oldest tricks in the book,” she said. “Making your opponent look bad so that you look good in comparison. But that’s not going to make him (Roxas) any good as a vice president. Or even a barangay chairman for that matter.”

LP, NP: Don’t divert funds Arroyo: It’s up to LGUs how to use money

By TJ Burgonio (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Link: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100313-258335/LP-NP-Dont-divert-funds
 
MANILA, Philippines—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Friday said it will be left to the discretion of local officials where the funds freed by her declaration of a state of calamity in Mindanao are to be spent amid warnings from politicians that they could become a source of corruption.

The local government units (LGUs) can spend the 5 percent of their budgets earmarked for calamities “where they choose because they have local autonomy,” Ms Arroyo told reporters in Mactan, Cebu, late Thursday.

Liberal Party presidential candidate Sen. Noynoy Aquino said there should be a strict monitoring of the funds, noting how “this government has shown its propensity to divert funds for political purposes.”

Nacionalista Party (NP) presidential candidate Manuel Villar warned the administration against selective releases and disbursement of funds to “politicians and favored candidates of the administration.

Noynoy, Villar statistically tied in SWS poll

by Helen Flores (The Philippine Star)

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=556549&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - If the elections were held last month, either Liberal Party’s (LP) Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III or his closest rival Nacionalista Party’s (NP) Sen. Manuel Villar would win the presidency, a latest survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) revealed yesterday.

Aquino and Villar were “statistically tied” at first place in the SWS presidential survey conducted from Feb. 24 to 28.

The survey, commissioned by BusinessWorld, showed that Aquino continued to set the pace with 36 percent, closely followed by Villar with 34 percent.

Applying the margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points, Aquino’s rating may be the same as Villar’s, the SWS said.

The survey used face-to-face interviews of 2,100 registered voters nationwide.

Aquino’s rating dropped in four geographical areas: seven points in the balance of Luzon, six in Mindanao, five in the Visayas, and three in Metro Manila.

Villar, meanwhile, lost six percentage points in Metro Manila, two in balance Luzon, and one in Mindanao, but rose by five points in the Visayas.

By area, the SWS said Aquino remained ahead in Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao, while Villar was leading in balance Luzon.

SWS said their lost votes appear to have gone to the third- and fourth-ranked candidates: former President Joseph Estrada of the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP), whose score improved by two points to 15 percent, and administration bet Gilbert Teodoro of the Lakas-Kampi-CMD, who also gained two points to six percent.

Legarda trails front-running Roxas by 9%

from Manila Standard Today

http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideNews.htm?f=2010/march/8/news2.isx&d=2010/march/8

LIBERAL Party candidate Senator Manuel Roxas II continued to lead the vice presidential race, beating out his closest rival, Senator Loren Legarda, by 39 percent to 30 percent in the latest Manila Standard poll.

The survey, conducted between Feb. 20 and 26, asked 2,500 registered voters to cast their ballots for the positions of President, vice president and senators in a way that simulated actual voting in the coming automated elections in May.

The February results for vice president showed the same pattern as January’s, said Manila Standard resident pollster Pedro Laylo Jr.

Former Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay received 15 percent, while former Metro Manila Development Authority chairman Bayani Fernando and administration candidate Edu Manzano both had 4 percent.

Some 6 percent of the respondents were undecided.

Data by major areas somewhat reflected the same voting pattern as that of the presidential race. Roxas had big leads in Metro Manila, South Luzon and the Visayas. Roxas and Legarda were tied in North and Central Luzon.

NP has most women bets in nat’l slate

by ROLLY T. CARANDANG, HANNAH TORREGOZA (Manila Bulletin)

http://mb.com.ph/articles/246667/np-has-most-women-bets-nat-l-slate

As the world celebrates International Women's Day on Monday, Senator Pia Cayetano lauded Nacionalista Party standard-bearer Sen. Manuel “Manny” Villar for including the most number of women candidates in the party’s national slate for this year’s elections.

Cayetano also called on Filipino voters to support pro-women candidates in the May 10 polls to ensure that the interest and issues of women are protected under the next administration.

“Voters should carefully study the track record of candidates, particularly their stand on women’s concerns,” she said.

“Regardless of whether they are male or female, the candidate should have a clear platform that looks after issues affecting women, including maternal health, the declining state of public health services, feminization of labor migration, gender discrimination, poverty, and trafficking.”

Cayetano, principal author of the Magna Carta of Women, added that a deeper and more diverse field of male and female candidates would give voters more options and better chances of pushing for genuine reforms in 2010.