By LITO BANAYO Ang Pahayagang Malaya January 26, 2010 ‘Is it perhaps because Enrile knows more? Or is it plain and simple cowardice?’ WHAT would you do when someone calls you, publicly and openly, a "coward"? What ought you do if the one assailing your character is a fellow senator? Which brings to mind the legendary politician and statesman, Jose Bayani Laurel Jr., eldest son of the wartime president. Tio Pito with whom I was extremely privileged to be associated, was not only an astute political player, but more so, a principled man with the courage of his convictions. After years of martial law, when it became quite clear that the allegedly "noble" ends of authoritarianism were being abused, and after Marcos had declared his Kilusang Bagong Lipunan not just a movement but a political party, effectively condemning the NP and LP into political limbo, Speaker Laurel spoke openly against authoritarian rule. "Sobra na. Nais pa yatang maugatan sa kapangyarihan...

By LITO BANAYO Ang Pahayagang Malaya January 7, 2010 THE last reputable surveys done after the filing of certificates of candidacy show three presidential candidates at the top: Noynoy Aquino in the mid to high forties, Manny Villar and Erap Estrada in a virtual tie at 20 or 19 percentage points. And Gilbert Teodoro, the man anointed by the once humongous Partido Lakas-Kampi founded by Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, incumbent and long-staying president of the benighted republic, at low single-digit numbers. The rest are also-rans, at 1 percentage point or even lower. Why the regime’s anointed is languishing at bottom lows, despite the vaunted party machinery, the well-placed ads projecting competence and intelligence ("galing at talino"), and despite inarguably better speaking and debating skills than the competition, is attributable to the public belief that he is "Gloria’s man", the chosen "one", the person she deems most fit to succeed and most acceptable to ...

By Mon Casiple The news was a bit of a surprise. After shopping for a senatorial slot in LP, NP, and PMP, Ferdinand “Bongbong”Marcos, Jr. finally found a nesting place in presidential candidate’s Manny Villar’s Nacionalista Party. With this move, the Marcos family will again try–for the umpteenth time–to go back to national politics. On his side, Mr. Villar will try to help breach the historical barrier against the Marcos dictatorship that EDSA I and the antidictatorship movement erected. The move to bring Bongbong into its fold deliberately sets the NP on a course to capture the pro-dictatorship political base of the Marcoses. This base is, of course, unreachable from the LP side, particularly because of Noynoy Aquino’s own political base that is rooted in the EDSA I and anti-dictatorship struggle. It’s maybe good trapo politics but the consequences will be far-reaching. Villar gambles that the bitter memories of the dark days of the Marcos dictatorship will have been forgotten or att...

By Alvin Capino Counterpoint Manila Standard Today www.manilastandardtoday.com *** I said in my earlier blog entries that the political season will officially begin in November of this year. Ooops, I was late by a month. I agree with the reading offered by Alvin Capino, with whom I worked at the Observer, the Independent, the Daily Globe and Today, under the editorships of the country's best -- Yen Makabenta, Alfrredo Navarro Salanga, and Teddy Boy Locsin. Where the C-5 chuvaness will go, I do not know. What I know is that I see the faces of Ace Durano in the newspapers, with a list of fiestas of the month, and on TV, with his unconfirmed figures of imaginary tourist arrivals. And Health Sec. Francisco Duque's face on black-and-white print ads and the more alive, colorful ads on TV. And of course, Pia Cayetano with her Downey, Manong Frank Drilon attending the traslacion at the Penafrancia Festival wearing shoes (the de rigeur is no shoes at all), Cesar Montano with his daily T...

Inside Track Newsbreak Magazine www.newsbreak.com.ph Tuesday, 30 September 2008 Long before he exposed the double appropriation in 2008 budget for a road in the vicinity of the development project of Senate President Manuel Villar’s company, we got word about Sen. Panfilo Lacson’s supposed “other” plan for 2010. A person in Lacson’s inner circle says that some quarters are convincing the senator to leave the Senate mid-term and run for governor of Cavite in 2010, instead of renewing his bid for the presidency. Another source in the Lacson camp denied (though not to death, so far) the information, saying that fielding Lacson for governor of his home province “never crossed our dirty minds.” If efforts to convince Lacson to give the governorship a try are true, then the only reason we can think of is that some political camps cannot find as of now somebody who can prevent a Remulla from re-taking the capitol in Trece Martires. That brings us to our theory that Lacson’s volley of ac...

COMMONSENSE By Marichu A. Villanueva Wednesday, September 10, 2008 Philippine Star www.philstar.net It was like a comedy scene yesterday morning when Senate president Manuel “Manny” Villar was clueless while he was being attacked all over radio stations. Opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson was first interviewed in the DZMM radio program of the ABS-CBN tandem of Korina Sanchez and Ted Failon yesterday while we were having our regular breakfast forum at the Tuesday Club at EDSA Shangri-La. Villar was being raked over the coals by Lacson on The STAR headline news that day about the alleged double-entry of a P200-million project that earned the ugly title of “road to nowhere.” After a long while he has not appeared in our breakfast club, Villar was being ribbed each time a member arrived telling him about the allegations of Lacson against him. Villar was at a loss at first to what he was being linked to. Little did he know that he was tagged as behind the inclusion anew in the proposed 2009 bud...

By Aurea Calica Friday, September 5, 2008 Philippine Star www.philstar.net Senate President Manuel Villar Jr. maintained yesterday that for him, it would be the presidency or nothing in 2010. As early as last December, Villar, Nacionalista Party (NP) president, had declared in an interview with STARweek magazine that there was “no turning back” on his plan to run for president in 2010. He said he would be his party’s standard-bearer. Villar reiterated on ABS-CBN television that he would seek the presidency, but added that he and his party are still working on the complete NP ticket. ABS-CBN reported that Villar was open to having Mary Grace Poe-Llamanzares, daughter of the late actor Fernando Poe Jr., as part of his team. Poe lost to President Arroyo in the 2004 presidential elections. His camp alleged that massive cheating occurred, resulting in his defeat. Villar said he was impressed by Llamanzares’ popularity, integrity and work ethic, which he claims are needed in serving the publ...

EAST WEST By Julius F. Fortuna Manila Times www.manilatimes.net WE attended on Saturday an affair held at the historic Laurel residence in Mandaluyong where the Nacionalista Party awarded 16 small-scale businessmen from across the country. The project was spearheaded by Senate President Manny Villar who used the occasion to elaborate on the virtues of sipag and tiyaga (industry and perseverance), as the road to economic self-reliance. Is this affair a preparation for 2010? I think it is. But in fairness to the organizers, I did not hear all throughout the affair a clear-cut political message or a reference to the presidential polls. But I noticed that in his speech honoring the awardees, Villar harped on the theme of giving hope to the nation. Hope was the slogan of the late Ninoy Aquino when he first ran for senator. And Marcos used “this nation can be great again” to win in 1965. Villar must be aware of the present crisis. That is why he referred in his speech to the growing hopeles...

INSIDE CONGRESS By Efren L. Danao The Manila Times www.manilatimes.net Senate President Manuel Villar had originally wanted to serve only one term as congressman. However, he stayed on to become the top honcho of both the House and the Senate. And considering his walk and talk, he might even go on to preside over the Palace by the Pasig River. Their family had picked him to run in the 9th Congress (1992 to 1995) in place of his then ailing father-in-law, the late Rep. Flo­rencio Aguilar. He agreed—but only for one term. He was then a leading businessman and he wanted to devote more time to his booming realty business. The call to service, however, was too strong for him to resist and he has not left politics since then. That he excelled in both politics and business shows that he is prac­ticing what he wants the Senate to do—multi-tasking, or undertake investigations in aid of legislation without sacrificing its primary task of lawmaking. I remember him best in the 9th Congress not o...

In one of his recent acts of political forecasting, Speaker Prospero Nograles said that VP Noli de Castro "is a very strong contender, but I am not discounting the possibility that the leadership might replace him as standard bearer". Apropos the same column item, Speaker Nograles, while holding loft the possibility of a Kampi-Lakas-NPC grand coalition for 2010, said the administration could also field, aside from their vice-president, Senate President Manuel Villar, or Senators Chiz Escudero, Mar Roxas and Loren Legarda. All of these names are in the realm of the possible as standard bearers of the administration coalition. Curiously, none of the four names mentioned, all of whom claim to be in the opposition, declined the possibility. They just kept silent. It was a cast-away, an "untouchable" in the kingdom of the Arroyos, Senator Panfilo Lacson, who issued a press statement the other day thanking the heavens that he was not within the possible sight of Nograles ...