Aquino's campaign tack gets personal, calls Villar copycat

What can I say to this except, hahahahaha? Expect the dirt to become thicker as the days pass.

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Aquino’s campaign tack gets personal, calls Villar copycat

Christine Herrera
Manila Standard Today
march 2, 2010

THE tone of presidential candidate Benigno Aquino III has switched from a campaign promising hope to directly attacking his closest rival, with the Liberal Party standard-bearer now accusing Manuel Villar Jr. of the Nacionalista Party of copying his campaign strategy.

Aquino, who was in Cebu over the weekend, said the Villar camp had also resorted to tying orange ribbons along the major thoroughfares, similar to Aquino’s yellow ribbons, aside from imitating his campaign vows and advertising materials.

“Give him one month and even my hairstyle he will copy,” Aquino said in Pilipino during a campaign sortie.

Aquino’s new attack mode nearly escaped the attention of the Manila-based media were it not for a press statement released Monday by the Liberal Party media bureau that began this way: “After seeing his ads and campaign materials imitated by the rival camp, [the] Liberal Party standard-bearer...predicts that Villar may soon imitate even his hairstyle.”

“Still, [Aquino] will not be surprised if Villar comes out with a song similar to Tie a Yellow Ribbon,” the Liberal statement said.

According to a political strategist, the Liberals, who have been unsettled by surveys showing Villar is now in a statistical tie with Aquino, have taken a two-pronged approach, pitching Aquino as the solution to the country’s woes, and attacking his closest rival, Villar.

Former senator Sergio Osmena III is said to be the brainchild of the new Aquino campaign strategy.

The Nacionalist camp was quick to answer Aquino’s hectoring.

“Noynoy [Aquino] is getting paranoid,” Cavite Rep. Jesus Crispin Remulla said.

“He should grow up. But we are not surprised that he is into trivial pursuits. He has always been shallow anyway and does not talk about serious issues because he just wants to dwell on trivial things and about the past. He should let go and move on.”

Even the son of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos jumped into the fray, taking exception to Aquino’s accusing President Arroyo of trying to copy the late President.

“Noynoy has a problem with the way he thinks. He cannot talk about serious issues because he is confused, he does not know what he is doing and what to do in the future,” Marcos said.

“He is obsessed about digging up the past. Our people want to know how to solve this country’s problems, but Noynoy does not offer them the solution. That’s the difference between Noynoy and Villar and that’s what makes Villar connect to the people.

“What’s lacking in the Liberal camp is that their standard bearer has little performance to prove that he can run this country better,” Marcos said. Christine F. Herrera

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