By William M. Esposo (The Philippine Star)

Personal or political motivation does not and cannot justify the junking of charges when there is strong evidence and probable cause of wrong doing. If Villar’s tack on the C-5 issue is to become the norm for dispensing justice, all Marlene Aguilar, mother of road rage murder suspect Jason Ivler, has to do is say that the arresting NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) agents hated her son.

If Villar’s use of personal and political motivation is to become a new legal basis for escaping accountability, the same excuse can used by Ben Abalos for the ZTE scandal, by Jocjoc Bolante for the Fertilizer Scam, by Madame Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for all the grievous sins she committed against the Filipino people.

So what if political motivation or personal motivation made somebody present a case of plunder, murder or rape against another person. If there was indeed a case of plunder, murder or rape — it matters not if what brought it out into the open was political or personal motivation. What matters is that justice is served and the criminal is prosecuted.
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By Conrado de Quiros, Philippine Daily Inquirer

I remember when Noynoy Aquino first got his plus-50 ratings. His supporters were meeting every week, asking themselves how they might consolidate his lead. I said this was all very well, but surely before you asked yourself how to consolidate his lead, you first had to ask how he got it?

That seems obvious. Yet the obvious is often the hardest thing to see, which is why the best place to hide things is in the open. In fact that was the one question the Aquino campaign failed to ask. Either the lead was assumed as given, or it was attributed in some vague way to the “Cory magic.”

Of course, it had to do with the Cory magic. But I don’t know that people really looked a little more closely at what the Cory magic was, or how it worked.

How can anybody possibly assume Noynoy’s lead as given? How can anybody possibly not want to know how he got it at all? It’s the most astonishing thing in the world. It didn’t just defy the odds, it defied reason. If you cannot understand how it happened, how can you hope to consolidate it?

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by Amita O. Legaspi, GMANews.TV

Leading presidential contender Sen. Manuel Villar, whom his rivals have accused of spending more time campaigning than performing his duties as an elected official, had the worst attendance record of all the senators.

Of the 45 Senate sessions since the third regular session started on July 27, 2009, Villar was only able to attend 15 sessions. He was late – or arrived after roll call — on 12 of those occasions.

Villar, one of the two frontrunners in the presidential race, was recorded absent on official mission 24 times and was out on official business once. He was absent without any notice five times.

Villar’s frequent absences occurred at a time when he was organizing his formidable campaign machine and deflecting corruption charges by his Senate colleagues.

On the other hand, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano was present at 14 out of 45 sessions. He arrived late 16 times, went on official mission nine times, and on official business thrice. He was absent four times.

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by Cris G. Odronio – The Manila Times reporter

‘Empty’ advertisements

De los Reyes said if he had the wealth of Villar, he would spend it in “noble” way, not on “empty” advertisements.

“Because the way a politician handles his money or his campaign style reflects the way he is,” he added.

He said the message that a leader should convey to the public should cover “principles and plaltforms, not empty messages that just say ‘Ako ang mahirap.”

Gordon also criticized candidates who project themselves for being pro-poor, obviously referring to Villar.

Villar defended himself when asked about his political ads.

“I am not an actor, and I never had a president for my mother. People like me who come from the poor should also be given the chance to lead,” he said in Filipino.

At the debate, Gordon also hit Aquino for his earlier statement in a previous forum that no new taxes would be imposed if he got elected.

In an interview after the debate, Aquino pointed out that if he won he would focus initially on how to capture a good part of the revenue leaks caused by smuggling and tax evasion.

GMANews.TV

Nationalista Party standard bearer Senator Manuel Villar Jr. on Saturday denied that he was the “secret candidate” of the administration and that he met with First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo at the house of Mike Defensor on January 7, as contained in several text messages now circulating among the public.

“Hindi ko pa nakikita si First Gentleman at ang Presidente, hindi pa kami nag-uusap since na ako ay natanggal sa pagkapangulo ng Senado,” Villar told reporters before his speech at the national convention of Philippine Guardians Brotherhood Inc (PGBI) held at the Tarlac State University.

The text messages claimed that Villar agreed to a deal to help President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who is running for representative of 2nd district of Pampanga, become House Speaker and to protect her from legal suits.

“Sobra talagang desperado yung mga taga-Liberal Party. Alam namin na sila ang nagkakalat niyan (These Liberal Party guys are truly desperate. We know they’re the ones spreading it.) We have our inside information that this came from their special operations team na kinakalat nila (that they’ve been spreading) through text messaging. There is absolutely no truth (to that),” he said.

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from www.marroxas.com

Restoration of good governance theme of campaign

The voter’s hunger for change in the corrupt political system is the Liberal Party’s formula in ensuring the victory of the tandem of Senators Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and Manuel “Mar” Roxas in the May 10 national elections, Chito Gascon, LP Director General, said today.

The LP slate led by Aquino and Roxas, along with the 12 Liberal “Peoples’ Reform” senatorial candidates, will kick off their 90-day campaign in Aquino’s home province of Tarlac, with a 9 a.m. mass in Concepcion, where the LP standard bearer’s late father, Sen. Ninoy Aquino, started his political career.

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by Lira Dalangin-Fernandez, The Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines – Presidential candidate Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III wants reduced funds from the internal revenue allotment (IRA) for local government units who are not performing their mandate.

At the same time, the Liberal Party (LP) stalwart said that local governments who did their job should get the full 40 percent IRA to allow them to do more projects for the people.

“Kung hindi nagawa ang dapat gawin, dapat bawasan ang resources. Iyong 40 percent maraming magagawa kung gagamitin sa tama [If they are not able to do what they’re supposed to do, their resources should be reduced. There are a lot of things that can be done with the 40 percent, if the funds will be used wisely] ,” said Aquino at the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s presidential debate held at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City Monday.

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by Hustisya

May joke ako regarding Villar at sa sobrang pag-rely niya sa kanyang mga advertisements;

Minsan nagpapahinga si Manny Villar at biglang humangos ang kanyang amuyong;

Amuyong : Sir…sir…sa subdivision nyo lumalangoy na ang mga tao sa baha.

Villar : Bili ka commercial. Ipakita mo kunwari pool yung nilalanguyan nila.

After a few days…..

Amuyong : Sir…sir…Mga tao sa subdivision ninyo parang lumalangoy na sa dagat. Lalim na kasi na baha.

Villar : Ah, walang kwenta yan. Bili ka ng commercials. Ipakita mo kunwari resort at sa dagat nagswi-swimming ang mga tao.

After a few days uli…
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By Niña Calleja, Philippine Daily Inquirer

Away from the eyes of the media, Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III quietly dropped by the hospital room of a dying man to grant his wish to see him up close.

Surprising the cancer-stricken Danilo Alonso, Aquino with his cousin Rapa Lopa appeared at room 779 of the Makati Medical Center one Saturday afternoon without telling Alonso’s family that he was coming.

Bedridden for almost a week, Alonso was star-struck and even tried to sit up upon seeing Aquino.

His children and grandchildren cried upon seeing that “a very important person was in the room.” Aquino and Lopa stayed for 30 minutes.

This was how Alonso’s granddaughter Joylyn recounted to the Philippine Daily Inquirer Aquino’s visit.

Alonso could no longer tell the story of how he met his “idol.” He passed away at age 63 two days after the visit.

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