Villar allies slam Aquino over Hacienda Luisita

By Gil C. Cabacungan Jr. (Philippine Daily Inquirer) 

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100317-259146/Villar-allies-slam-Aquino-over-Hacienda-Luisita

MANILA, Philippines—Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, the Liberal Party standard-bearer, came under fire Tuesday after his cousin was quoted in The New York Times article published March 14 as saying that the Cojuangco family would not give up Hacienda Luisita.

The distribution of all agricultural lands to farmers—over 1 million hectares in the most productive areas of the country that had not been distributed under the agrarian reform program in the past two decades—is mandated under a new law extending the program for five years and appropriating P150 billion for its implementation.
Hypocrisy, double-speak
Gilbert Remulla, spokesperson of Nacionalista Party presidential candidate Manny Villar, accused Aquino of “political double-speak” over the hacienda issue.
“Senator Aquino says in his latest political ads that he will continue the fight. I think he owes it to the Filipino people to first settle his family’s fight with the farmers and tenants of Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac,” said Remulla, also an NP senatorial candidate.
“It is hypocrisy and double-speak, plain and simple,” Remulla said.
“He can no longer evade the issue as he did all these months. For a presidential candidate who is supposedly running on a platform of change, the appalling conditions that pervade in his family’s hacienda and the continuing plight of the farmers and tenants there should be explained and not swept under the rug,” Remulla said.

Gibo: I won't stop till I'm No. 1

By Jaime Laude (The Philippine Star)

Link: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=557518&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - Though still trailing in the surveys, administration presidential candidate Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro yesterday vowed to work harder and attain the top spot in the coming weeks ahead of Election Day.

“I’ll not stop till I’m number one,” Teodoro declared before the 2010 National Convention of the Chamber of Thrift Banks (CTB).

Teodoro made the remark in reply to the latest surveys showing his significant gains in the mostly four-cornered presidential fight.

He said the survey results do not necessarily mean the leading candidate is already the winner.

Teodoro urged voters to focus on the qualifications and capability of the candidate, instead of popularity.

He said local support would definitely spell the difference on Election Day and overturn the results of the surveys.

Teodoro is looking forward to campaigning at the grassroots level when the local campaign period kicks off on March 26.

He said his chances are greater once the campaign period for local candidates kicks off to start the local machinery of the administration party Lakas-Kampi-CMD that would translate to 25 percent more votes.

Teodoro on family feud: Am for people, not hurt of one man

By Fe Zamora (Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Link: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100313-258342/Teodoro-on-family-feud-Am-for-people-not-hurt-of-one-man

MANILA, Philippines—Family feuds may be a hallmark of Philippine politics, but according to administration standard-bearer Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro, his own feud with the family of his uncle, industrialist and Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) founder Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco, should have no place in the current presidential race.

“We are talking about the country, not one family, not the hurt feelings of one person ... And for the good of the people, I’d go for the Filipino people than the hurt feelings of a family,” Teodoro Friday told reporters on the sidelines of the Chamber of Thrift Banks’ national convention at the Dusit Thani hotel in Makati City.

Teodoro was reacting to a statement made by his first cousin Lisa Cojuangco Cruz, a daughter of Danding’s, that the family was “hurt” when Teodoro abandoned the NPC and joined the administration without a formal goodbye.

“It does not have any effect on the life of Juan de la Cruz, or in my platform of government. [It should not be an issue in a] presidential election, and I’m not going down to that level,” he added.

‘Anybody but Gibo’

Teodoro, a former defense secretary and also a former representative of Tarlac, is the only son of Mercedes Cojuangco-Teodoro, a sister of Danding’s.