The Presidency is not for Sale

JPE TO VILLAR: GORDON IS NOT FOR SALE

I commend Senator Gordon for unmasking the real character of Senator and presidential candidate Manuel B. Villar as a man who thinks he can buy his way to the highest position in the land with his billions of money.

I understand Senator Gordon has come out to tell the public about the bribe attempt made by Senator Villar through an "emissary" and a "mutual friend." I confirm that such attempt actually happened and I have no doubt about its veracity because Sen. Gordon told me about it immediately.

My recollection is that when I filed the report of the Committee of the Whole on the Ethics complaint involving the C5 controversy, having been signed by 11 Senators with myself as the author acting as Chairman, my Chief of Staff relayed to me by phone that another Senator, who Villar was supporting to replace me as Senate President, had approached Sen. Gordon to join the plot to oust me and install a new leadership in the Senate.

The approach, which came with an offer for a position of Sen. Gordon's choice under a "Villar Administration" was turned down outright by Sen. Gordon saying "I cannot, in conscience, do such a thing, especially not to Senator Enrile who I regard as a father."

On that same day, upon seeing Sen. Gordon arrive at the Senate session, I embraced him and whispered "Thank you, Dick. I know what happened." At that time, he seemed surprised at my gesture and just hugged me back.

Several days after, when we were about to take up the report on the Floor, I got another report that Sen. Gordon was offered, on top of the first offer for a position if Sen. Villar makes it to the presidency, was likewise offered a huge amount of money to withdraw his signature from my report. I was appalled by this report and felt it was my duty to tell Sen. Gordon that such news was circulating. I called Sen. Gordon and informed him that I will never believe that he will succumb to such a brazen act of bribery.

Sen. Gordon privately confirmed to me that such offer was indeed made and that he felt furious and insulted by the temerity and gall of Villar to think that he can be intimidated by money, much less lured by an offer for a position of power. He immediately said NO to this offer.

Later, I learned that it went even beyond that; that Sen. Villar offered "reimbursement for what Sen. Gordon had so far spent for his presidential bid with an added premium just to convince him to withdraw from the presidential race.

I have known Sen. Gordon from his younger days, and one thing I can say is that this man cannot be bought. Sen. Villar is dead wrong about Sen. Gordon. You do not put a price tag on everyone, especially not Dick Gordon. GORDON.

Actually, I knew about the plan to oust me since last December. On the last day of our sessions before the Christmas break, Sen. Allan Peter Cayetano, on orders of his master, Sen. Villar, in no uncertain terms, delivered the threat to my Chief of Staff that if I make a move to gather enough votes in support of my Committee Report, Sen. Villar wants me to know that he will have no other choice but to take the Senate Presidency either for himself or for another Senator of his choice.

As things developed and the co-perpetrators of the coup plot against me began to show their real colors, I surmised that the "emissary" to Sen. Gordon and Sen. Villar's nominee could be no other than Senator Edgardo J. Angara.

Sen. Angara later feigned ignorance about the plot and professed his loyalty to me. Of course! After all, it did not succeed. But I know first hand that from the Senators themselves who signed the resolution to remove me that he was Villar's nominee as my replacement.

Sen. Angara is a man whose career I helped to start, and nurture: first, as a young lawyer, placing him no less than as the lead and founding partner of the law firm I established (the ACCRA or Angara, Concepcion, Cruz, Regala & Abello Law Offices), and later as President of the University of the Philippines by recommending him to former President Marcos.

Sen. Angara now says that it was the late former President Corazon C. Aquino who launched his career in government. So be it. I don't anymore care to claim credit for his career nor his success in weaving his way into the corridors of power over the years. I would rather associate myself with more honorable men.

This attempt of Villar is similar to the offer made by another "emissary" to former President Estrada, our standard bearer in the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino- "reimbursement in exchange for withdrawal." President Estrada rightly turned down this indecent proposal. President Estrada's candidacy is NOT FOR SALE.

I had earlier revealed that Sen. Villar himself tried to bribe me into not proceeding with the investigation by the Committee of the Whole, offering me "help" for whatever it was I needed. As I said, I replied to him that I can only advice him to participate in the hearings and introduce evidence to counter the charges and evidence against him, and that I am giving him that advice for free, without any consideration. I wish to reiterate to Sen. Villar: I AM NOT FOR SALE.

If you tie all these things up with Sen. Villar's unprecedented campaign spending for advertisements, cash give-aways to local officials and supporters, his media budget and sum it all up, then you have a complete picture of the man who is now presenting himself as the "best" alternative for the presidency.

Sen. Villar is a pretender posturing as a pleasant and decent person and using his poverty during his childhood days to project himself as pro-poor. It is as if having been once poor was equivalent to really having the heart for the poor.

Villar has to answer what he has done for the poor since he became a multi-billionaire and in his long career as a politician apart from his expensive "give-aways", helping OFW's, giving livelihood, building homes for the poor by shelling out money ALL FOR PROPAGANDA.

Sen. Villar must be asked what he did for the poor that he did not make sure was covered by media so he can use it for his campaign propaganda. He should be asked what social cause he has really championed as a legislator, not an ordinary one, by the way, for he served as no less than Speaker of the House and Senate President.

He should he asked how he victimized the poor and the taxpayers of this country with his financial schemes in the housing business, and about the collapse of his own bank, Capitol Bank, mysteriously leaving him richer, not poorer.

Amongst all who are now running for President, Villar stands out, indeed, as the RICHEST and one who thinks that everyone can be bought: the people through his misleading advertisements, some media people who are obviously in his "payola", political leaders who are vulnerable to his offer to partake of his financial largesse, and all his attempts to bribe even his colleagues and fellow aspirants to the Presidency.

Sen. Villar may have succeeded to a large extent in deploying the huge fortune he acquired, perhaps some by honest means, but definitely, a large part, by the immoral use of his political position, power and clout to advance his own business interests as borne out by the evidence in Senate Ethics case and, much earlier, by the shenanigans exposed on the Floor of the Lower House by Sen. Joker Arroyo.

But on May 10, he must be taught a hard and painful lesson by no less than the electorate. He must be unmasked and rejected as a fake leader in order for the nation to redeem itself. We must clearly send the strongest message to Senator Manuel "Manny" B. Villar, as Senator Richard J. Gordon has said, that THE PRESIDENCY OF THIS NATION, THE FILIPINO PEOPLE, AND THE PHILIPPINES ARE NOT FOR SALE.

from here

Conflict of interest

Last week Winnie Monsod wrote a brief but fact-based analysis of the C-5 issue. Manny, along with his hordes, defended himself by saying that the C5 extension was not redundant but necessary. I'm not going to go into the nitty-gritty of the issue. 2 facts stand high-lighted before me:

1. The C-5 project, according to DPWH reports, was conceptualized and initially funded by Manny Villar.

2. The C-5 project dubiously benefits the properties of Villar. 

Conflict of interest, plain and simple. If you use government money and power for personal gain, then you are corrupt. Plain and simple.  Should we ask, who is the main beneficiary of teh c-5 project? Plain and simple. Again, this is why Manny Villar is not my president.

Oh and here is Winnie Monsod's follow up to her previous article.

Refuting Manny’s defenders 

By Solita Collas-Monsod
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 22:33:00 02/05/2010

Filed Under: Elections, Graft & Corruption, Manny Villar

IN RESPONSE TO LAST WEEK’S COLUMN where I presented some incontrovertible facts regarding the ethics case against Sen. Manny Villar, I received an e-mail from one Danilo Suarez of Quezon City. He wrote: “Read your column re your take on C5 and Sen. Villar’s ‘involvement.’ In the interest of fairness, I exhort you, as a supporter of Sen. Villar, to also check his official website and his side on the matter. I trust you would put this out as you search for the truth …. Looking forward to reading about it in your column.”

My reply: “Dear Mr. Suarez, If there is anything erroneous in any of the statements of fact that were published in my column, please feel free to point them out, together with the documents you have that will allow me to verify that they are indeed erroneous. As you may have noticed, the A’s in my column can be verified by documents and uncontroverted statements from official sources, which I was very careful to cite, precisely so that readers like you can check them. I am certainly glad that Mr. Villar has aired his side on his website. That is his choice. It is mine to look at the government documents and the sworn testimony that are part of the Senate record. I look forward to Mr. Villar’s defending himself in a venue that allows for clarificatory questions and refutations. That is, after all, part and parcel of transparency and accountability that are so necessary for good governance. Regards.”

The Inquirer also forwarded me an e-mail from Ma. Nalen Rosero-Galang, who identifies herself as legal counsel for Senator Villar. I also received a paper titled “C-5 sound and fury: Is Monsod painting the full picture? Student rebukes professor” by Ricardo G. Barcelona of Spain, who identifies himself firstly as “a former student of Prof. Monsod,” before going on to reciting the rest of his impressive curriculum vitae. I am honored that he considers his being my former student (albeit a rebuking one) more important than the rest of his professional achievements.

For the most part, both Galang and Barcelona do not contest the facts presented in last week’s column. An exception is when Galang asserts that “There is no evidence whatsoever that the alignment of the C5 Road Extension was determined by Senator Villar, or that its alignment was changed in order that it should pass through the real estate properties of Senator Villar’s companies.” Excuse me, Ms Galang: May I remind you that per the Department of Public Works and Highways, Senator Villar conceptualized and initially funded both the CX-5 and the Las Piñas-Parañaque Link Road project. That is in black and white in the DPWH project feasibility studies.

Both do contest what I considered a reasonable conclusion: that since there was already an ongoing (MCTEP) linking C-5 to the Coastal Road, it was unnecessary (and therefore wasteful) to build a second one. Galang argues that both were necessary, given the “worsening traffic condition (sic) in Parañaque, Las Piñas and Cavite.” Barcelona argues that it was not a case of wastefulness, but rather of creating choices for motorists.

To Ms Galang: where in urban Philippines are traffic conditions not worsening? To Mr. Barcelona: MCTEP was conceived precisely to create choices for motorists. There already exists a current road network, toll-free, that will allow motorists to move from SLEX to the Coastal Road. MCTEP would give them the choice of going from point A to Point B more quickly—as long as they are willing to pay for the convenience. Giving motorists a third choice, in the context of competing demands on scarce resources, cannot be—never mind, should not be—defended. Giving motorists a third choice, while at the same time ensuring that the third-choice road passes through Villar-owned properties (I notice neither Galang nor Barcelona refuted the 50-52 hectare area involved), is even less defensible.

Then there is the matter of zonal valuation. Barcelona is correct to point out a seemingly inconsistent set of estimates: In my column, I stated (not suggested—it is a matter of arithmetic), that the Villar lots were acquired at an average price of P7,168/sq m while non-Villar properties went for P1,880/sq m. In my analysis for News on Q, which was earlier taped, the figures I gave were P11,520 and P2,922 respectively (not the P11,000 and P4,500 that Barcelona cites. Tsk.). Inconsistent? No. The P11,520 figure refers only to the properties that are directly Villar-owned. The P7,168 figure refers to direct properties and those in joint-venture with Villar companies. Please note that I used the lower figures in my column.

To Barcelona: Do not put words in my mouth. I was not suggesting that capital gains linked to proximity to public works should accrue to government. And there is a world of difference between the Hacienda Luisita issue and the Villar properties issue: (1) Noynoy Aquino probably owns less than 2 percent of Luisita, Villar owns 100 percent of his properties; and (2) Villar conceived and initially funded CX-5/LPPLP; Aquino had zilch to do with SCTEX. Tsk.

Moral of the story: Do not rebuke your teacher using insinuations and without full knowledge of the facts. My fault is that I didn’t teach him any better.

Finally, I cannot resist quoting Joker Arroyo, circa 1998: “So in the case of Speaker Villar, it is simple. If he wants to go/continue in business and deal with government financial institutions, he can do so but he cannot also be a congressman. If he wants to be a congressman, then he must not be in business which deals with the government. We have to pay a price.” Amen.

"All is fair in love and politics."

Not so if you spend so much more than you can actually afford that you bury yourself in politcal debt, a debt which you'll have to pay later on with the people's money. 

One of the many reasons why I am NOT voting for the guy in orange is because of his utter aggressiveness in campaigning. How much has he spent? Experts estimate he has spent around 3 billion pesos on ads alone. I've visited several municipalities in the past few months and Villar has his face plastered everywhere, months before the actual campaign period. 

He has such hunger for the presidency that it frightens me. It frightens me because it reminds me of a certain president. The one who promised on Rizal's shrine that she won't run for another term and 6 years later is still president. The one who will run for congress to stay in power. I can't help but imagine what anyone with such hunger for power would do to remain in power, regardless if everyone else swims in their own garbage.

From here:

Villar money rules noontime TV shows 

By Nikko Dizon
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:21:00 02/06/2010

Filed Under: Politics, Elections, Eleksyon 2010

AS EARLY AS 3 A.M. last Thursday, 46-year-old balut vendor Josie Magtangub and her daughter were lining up for the popular noontime show “Eat Bulaga” at Broadway Centrum in Quezon City.

Magtangub said she wanted to win P25,000 in cash given in the segment “Stop My Hirap” to help her sustain her small business and send her 8-year-old child to school.

“I was told the lines were long so I came early,” she told the Inquirer in Filipino.

The 10-hour wait was worth it. Shortly past noon, Magtangub and her daughter were on stage with hosts Michael V. and Ruby Rodriguez, jumping up and down while orange and white confetti rained on them.

Magtangub won P25,000 and P10,000 worth of groceries courtesy of Nacionalista Party (NP) standard-bearer, Sen. Manuel Villar, who sponsors “Stop My Hirap.”

While signing up celebrity endorsers has always been a norm in election campaigns, a game show segment—never mind if it’s aired for less than 5 minutes—is a trailblazing campaign strategy.

As if his television and radio advertisements were not enough, Villar has conquered the popular Filipino noontime shows aired on the two biggest networks, winning the hearts and minds of voters. He has maximized all possible campaign platforms, which reflects Villar’s marketing genius that has made him one of the richest Filipinos in the country.

The strategy must have helped Villar’s latest surge in the presidential surveys, putting him neck and neck with Liberal Party standard-bearer and perennial front-runner, Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.

Willie and Michael V

Among Villar’s celebrity endorsers are hosts of noontime shows—Michael V. from “Eat Bulaga” aired on GMA 7 and Willie Revillame of ABS-CBN’s “Wowowee.” The senator was a guest on “Wowowee” when Revillame celebrated his birthday a few weeks ago.

For political analyst Ramon Casiple, Villar’s pre-election campaign spending, was “scandalous” by democratic terms.

Hinged on Villar’s antipoverty advocacy, “Stop My Hirap” aimed right at the gut of the hungry masses as well as the middle class, he said.

Why they joined

For instance, Wilson Ng, 25, and Drid de Castro, 24, who were not exactly poor as they were working in their families’ respective businesses also joined “Stop My Hirap.”

Ng said he wanted to win the cash money so he could share it with his family and friends.

De Castro, for his part, said he would use the money to treat his youngest sister who celebrated her birthday Friday.

Since it started last Jan. 19, some 14 studio contestants have each won the jackpot consisting of P25,000 in cash and P10,000 worth of grocery items. Two others—including an Army private who said she needed money to pay for the medicines of her mother and sibling—won P10,000 each.

The winners were either teachers, overseas Filipino workers, househelp or laborers.

Mechanics

The mechanics of the contest, which ends its two-and-a-half-week run today, or two days before the formal election campaign begins, are simple: Audience members write on orange sheets of paper what they would do if they win P25,000. The pieces of paper go into a fish bowl where the hosts, who are dressed in orange, pick one lucky contestant—but not before egging the audience to dance to an upbeat jingle composed by Michael V. The dance ends with Villar’s signature hand sign where the thumb and forefinger form a check sign just under the chin.

The lucky contestant gets to spin an orange electronic wheel and depending on where the needle stops, the contestant could win P10,000, P15,000 cash, groceries, or the jackpot.

At the end of the segment, the story of a poor, struggling citizen is aired, recalling Villar’s own rags-to-riches tale. The candidate’s image and slogan, “Sipag at Tiyaga” is flashed on screen.

Secret

Malou Choa-Fagar, senior vice president and chief operations officer of TAPE Inc. and producer of “Eat Bulaga” told the Inquirer that “Stop My Hirap” was a “portion buy” on the noontime show by the Villar campaign team.

Fagar, however, declined to say how much the segment cost, saying the information was confidential.

An industry insider told the Inquirer that depending on a segment’s concept, a portion buy such as “Stop My Hirap” could cost from P700,000 to P1 million per episode. The amount did not include the prizes given away and the talent fees of hosts.

A show producer like TAPE could also offer package deals to its clients to lower costs, the source added.

Fagar clarified that TAPE did not look at “Stop My Hirap” as a campaign vehicle.

“To us, [the Villar team] is a client coming into our show,” she said.

First time

Asked if this was a brilliant strategy on Villar’s part, Fagar replied: “I think so; it is the first time something like this was placed within a show. Usually, spots [or political advertisements] are aired outside the shows.”

Casiple, executive director of the Institute of Political and Electoral Reform (IPER), said Villar’s “Stop My Hirap” was an interesting “development” in campaign strategy.

Villar, whose net worth reportedly totals P25 billion according to Forbes Magazine, had changed the political landscape with “that level of spending.”

“He’s spending around ten times as much as his nearest rival,” Casiple said, referring to Aquino.

Casiple described Villar’s campaign expenses as nearly “scandalous.”

“By democratic rules, everybody but everybody is qualified to run but with Villar’s spending, it shows that only those with money can run. But should we allow money to rule?” he said.

“All is fair in love and politics,” Casiple concluded.

"Is Manny Villar blameless? Is the Pope Protestant?

Again, this is why Manny Villar is not my president.

Get Real
Manny Villar blameless? 

By Solita Collas-Monsod
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:06:00 01/30/2010

Filed Under: Manny Villar, Eleksyon 2010, Elections

Most Read

WHILE the Senate is declaring a moratorium on the discussion of the ethics case against Sen. Manny Villar, here are some incontrovertible facts, presented in Q & A form. The source of the information is also given.

Question: What roadway projects are the subject matter of the Villar ethics controversy? Answer: 1. The Manila Cavite Toll Expressway Project (MCTEP), the original C-5 south extension project, linking SLEX with the Coastal Road; 2. the DPWH C-5 Extension project (CX-5), which together with 3. the Las Piñas-Parañaque Link Project (LPPLP), also links SLEX with the Coastal Road. Source: Senate Report (SR) 780.

Q: Is the CX-5/LPPLP project a realignment, as Sen. Jamby Madrigal describes it, or has there been no realignment, as Senator Villar’s allies insist? A: Technically there has been no realignment, because these are two separate roads linking C-5 from SLEX to the Coastal Road. But they are very close together and, in some areas, overlap, as can be ascertained from a site map. Source: interactive map available at www.gmanews.tv

Q: Are there any differences between the MCTEP and the CX-5/LPPLP? A: Yes. 1. The MCTEP is a joint-venture project between the government and a private Malaysian partner, with the government’s financial exposure limited to P2.68 billion for the purchase of the road right-of-way; the private partner is responsible for the construction of the project, for which tolls will be charged. The CX-5/LPPLP is a toll-free, wholly-financed government project costing P6.96 billion; 2. The CX-5/LPPLP is longer than the MCTEP, its extra length essentially covering the LPPLP portion; 3. The CX-5/LPPLP passes through more Villar properties than the MCTEP. Source: DPWH project documents cited as Exhibits A, B and TTTT in SR 780; site map from www.gmanews.tv.

Q: How large are the Villar company landholdings in the immediate vicinity of the questioned road projects? A: At least 50-52 hectares: 40 hectares in the vicinity of the LPPLP; 10-12 hectares in the area between Sucat Road and Multinational Avenue. Source: testimony of Anastacio Adriano Jr., senior vice president and general manager, chief operating officer of Adelfa Properties Inc. and other Villar-owned companies up to 2008; self-styled consultant and political officer of Senator Villar since August 2008. Nota bene: Senate employment records do not include his name. Nota bene: it is not clear whether the 50-52 hectares mentioned above include properties cited in SR 780—roughly 10 hectares in area—to be developed by Villar companies in joint venture with their owners.

Q: What is the involvement of Villar in CX-5 and LPPLP? A: 1. The Project Feasibility Study of the DPWH for CX-5 states: “The conceptualization of and the initial release of funds for the CX-5 Project was initiated by Sen. Manuel Villar whose same efforts also paved the way for the funding of the Las Piñas-Parañaque Link Road [LPPLP]”; 2. Various insertions and amendments (Priority Development Assistance Fund, read pork barrel) in the national government budget over the years 2002-2008 for CX-5 and LPPLP; 3. Adriano (cited above), in the office of and presence of Villar, dictating to the director general of the Senate’s Legislative Budget Research and Monitoring Office (LBRMO) Villar’s proposed amendments to the 2008 budget, including a P400-million appropriation for the CX-5. Source: documents submitted by DPWH, lawyer Yolanda Doblon of the LBRMO, testimony of both Doblon and Adriano, cited in SR 780.

Q: Were the Villar properties bought for road right-of-way overpriced? A: SR 780 argues for the affirmative; PSR 1472 (the resolution signed by Villar and his allies exonerating him from all charges) argues for the negative. This calls for a conclusion of the reader. And to help that along, I have—based on the documented prices and acreage of the lands purchased in connection with the LPPLP—computed the weighted average prices that were paid for the Villar and related properties, and those paid for the non-Villar properties. The results: The Villar/related properties, comprising 23,455 square meters, were bought for P168.1 million. The non-Villar properties, comprising 11,685 square meters, were bought for P22 million. That comes to a weighted average of P7,168 per square meter for Villar’s properties, and P1,880 per square meter for the non-Villar properties. That has to be a statistically significant difference.

Given the above facts—which no one can contest, since they are based on official documents, and not on a he-says-she-says set of assertions—it has to be reasonable to conclude:

1. Since there was already an ongoing project (the MCTEP) linking C-5 to the Coastal Road, it was totally unnecessary to build a second one.

2. Which means that there was a waste of scarce resources. Instead of using only P2.6 billion of government funds for the first project, the government had to spend an additional P6.9 billion for the second, which practically duplicated the first, except for the additional length which happily for Senator Villar, traversed his properties.

3. This unnecessary, wasteful project was certainly Villar’s idea. It is specious to argue that it is a DPWH project. As the DPWH feasibility study states (in black and white), both the CX-5 and the LPPLP were conceived and initially funded by Villar.

4. Villar benefited tremendously from the second project. Certainly, his companies were paid significantly more per square meter for the road right of way (which were mostly bought from him). But that pales into insignificance compared with the tremendous increase in the values of his real estate holdings in the area—at least 50-52 hectares.

Is he blameless? Is the Pope protestant?

I might just shoot my self...

if Villar doesn't stop harrassing us with this ad. At first it was okay. Then it became annoying. Now it's just painful. It's driving me crazy. Yes, I get it you have GAZILLIONS! Stop. Please. Taken from here.

Why I will never put the fate of my country in Villar's hands

A few entries back, I said that I won't vote for Villar on the sole basis of how much he has spent on advertising alone. Here's another reason:

Yellow Pad -- By Filomeno S. Sta Ana III

Villar’s leadership

Manny Villar is on a roll. The latest survey conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS) shows that he has narrowed the gap between him and Noynoy Aquino, the frontrunner, to 11%. The survey came in the wake of a media blitzkrieg during the holiday season.

A friend of mine, an executive in a major television network, conservatively estimates that Villar has spent P2 billion since the third quarter of 2009 for his media campaign. (Other estimates are on the high side, ranging between P3 billion and P4 billion.)

His ads are very populist. In one ad, responding to Michael V’s complaint about the prohibitive cost of education, Villar says that college education must be free. Why Villar focuses on college education, not on basic education, which is a bigger problem, is easy to answer. Villar wants to get the vote of college students. Elementary and high school children don’t vote.

Populist rhetoric works during elections; that was part of Gloria Arroyo’s tactics in 2004. She ordered a price subsidy on electricity, mainly benefiting the rich and the non-poor; she wasted billions of pesos for dole-out; she stalled revenue-enhancement reforms so she would be popular. All this led to a fiscal crisis, and the people had to suffer from the consequences of Arroyo’s irresponsible populism. But Arroyo won the elections -- her populist rhetoric and action attracted votes, though the decisive factor was the cheating.

Villar is doing a Gloria. Villar, like Gloria, is a master of populist language bordering on demagoguery. He even adopts the program of the Left so he can get its command votes. In his obsession to win the presidency, this multibillionaire has wooed a force that regards him a class enemy. (Incidentally, Gloria also forged tactical ties with the Left in the 2004 elections.)

And Villar is doing to Noynoy what Gloria did to Fernando Poe, Jr. in 2004: question the leadership qualities of his main rival.

The Villar camp attributes the gain from the latest SWS survey to "the shift in voting preference over the last three weeks in December as respondents start to put a premium on proven competence, leadership and accomplishments." And in a televised debate that was staged immediately after the release of the SWS survey, Villar highlighted again the issue of competence and leadership.

The problem is that Villar’s propaganda on leadership will backfire.

One of the enduring quotes from Winston Churchill is: "The price of greatness is responsibility." Villar, however, has exhibited recklessness and waste, not responsibility.

Let’s take another look at his ad where he promises free college education. If only the Philippine government were very rich in revenues, free college education would have been a viable option. But because of the severe lack of resources, the next administration must specify the priority spending. And undoubtedly, basic education must be the top priority because it has a bigger impact on poverty reduction and has higher social returns.

It is the mark of irresponsibility for Villar to promise many good things like free college education, without identifying where he will get the resources.

Villar would have a more responsive contribution to society, at the same time he would gain political capital, if he devoted the billions that he spends on ads to the housing and education projects initiated by civil society -- like Tony Meloto’s Gawad Kalinga on housing and Nene Geuvara’s Synergeia on basic education. Let an undergrad economics student calculate the opportunity costs of the billions that Villar spent for his media campaign at a very early stage of the campaign.

Villar is thus the opposite of a good leader who knows how to husband resources and use such resources efficiently.

Villar also boasts of his performance in the Senate to boost his claim of being a good leader. But let us not forget how Villar turned against the very institution that he once led as he resisted the Senate inquiry into the controversial C5 project. The C5 controversy, at the very least, exposed Villar’s conflict of interest with regard to the budget insertion.

In fact, Villar did a Gloria act by boycotting the Senate inquiry and by condemning his fellow senators for prejudging the case. This was the same way Gloria rejected the Senate in relation to the notorious ZTE-NBN deal.

At any rate, Villar is correct in making leadership a main issue in the elections. He may be a good manager, but he misses the point that what we need now is someone who will rebuild the institutions that Gloria has destroyed.

And there’s the rub. Villar’s leadership is no different from Gloria’s.

To repeat what Churchill said, "the price of greatness is responsibility." We can also quote Dwight Eisenhower, Churchill’s ally during World War II: "The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office."

Unfortunately, Villar has neither responsibility nor integrity. He does not adhere to the ethics of honesty, uprightness, and transparency. He makes money do the talking, but he veers away from obligations, accountabilities, and tradeoffs. He is another Gloria.

On Experience

I haven't really decided on who to vote for president in the coming elections. I am leaning towards Noynoy, but I am not yet fully convinced. I feel I have to get to know him better. As with all the other candidates. But of this I am sure: I will not vote for Villar. On the sole basis of how much he has spent on advertising alone, I will not vote for him. I don't need a president who who will move heaven and hell, who will spend beyond his means, who will do anything for power. I will not vote for Villar.

Below is an interesting article from Villar.

 

Experience 

By Conrado de Quiros
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:25:00 01/12/2010

Filed Under: Opinion surveys, Eleksyon 2010, Politics

FINALLY, Manny Villar has thrown a punch at Noynoy Aquino. That’s by way of asking Noynoy what he has done to deserve to lead the people.

It’s not exactly a haymaker. And Manny may soon find out that what he has thrown is really a boomerang.

It pays to read history, as Santayana bids. The history of that accusation is a curious one and demonstrates its potential to be something that comes right back at the accuser. Ferdinand Marcos did it to Noynoy’s mother, Cory, ridiculing her as someone with no experience, or indeed as walang alam.

The epithet turned out to be a badge of honor, helped in no small way by Cory readily admitting she had no experience. She had no experience jailing people, torturing people, murdering people. Or indeed, if implicitly, she had no experience ruling so horribly she succeeded in making people clamor to be ruled by someone who had no experience.

History repeated itself in 2004 and proved Marx’s famous aphorism that history has a way of doing things twice, first as tragedy and second as farce. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo also said Fernando Poe Jr. had no experience. The repetition did not lack for uncanny features, not least GMA being a loud echo of Marcos and FPJ being a simple man with a good heart, a thing that would become more patent after his death.

That one, however, was farcical in that FPJ’s handlers, for reasons known only to them, figured it was in his best interest not to be seen, heard, or felt. Thereby missing an opportunity to turn a bad thing into a good thing, sending the accusation right back at the accuser. FPJ could also have readily admitted he had no experience. He had no experience saying one thing and doing another, he had no experience stealing the socks off people (literally: the Oakwood mutineers cited as one of their reasons for mutiny the foot soldier in Mindanao having no boot on his foot, courtesy of pillage by their commander in thief), he had no experience cheating.

But I don’t know that it would have greatly mattered. The 2004 vote was not decided by verbal jousting but by electoral “Garcisting.” It was not decided by ample nuance but by the Ampatuans.

History repeats itself a third time. First as tragedy, second as farce, third as suicide.

The parallels remain uncanny in that the cast of characters are not pale echoes of their predecessors. And exactly the same answer is solicited by the charge. Of course, Noynoy has no experience. He has no experience figuring in a corruption scandal. Of course, Manny was cleared by his peers in the C-5 case, but given that no one has really been found guilty in Senate hearings – not even the people who kidnapped Jun Lozada – that will always hang on his head. The presumption of innocence merely means that we may not jail people who figure in corruption scandals until they are proven guilty, it does not mean we ought to make them president.

The other side of having no experience living under the shadow of a scandal is having every experience living life honestly. The question of what one has done to deserve to lead the country merely draws attention to meaning of “done.” A quiet, honest life is an epic accomplishment as opposed to a loud, attention-grabbing, hustling one. It’s time we got our values right in that respect. A public school teacher who has spent a lifetime putting light in the minds of impoverished kids is far more qualified to be president than one who has spent a lifetime cultivating friends in high places, the better to put him in the highest place.

One might of course object that Noynoy is not a teacher. But that only makes us ask what teaching really means. Example is the best teacher of all. A quiet, honest life is the best lesson of all. You cannot exhort a people to greatness while lying, cheating and stealing.

More importantly, Noynoy can always argue that he has no experience abiding tyranny. Of course, he and Cory were among those who supported GMA in 2004, but he and Cory too were the first to part ways with her after it was shown by the “Hello, Garci” tape that she never won the elections. They called on her to resign. A thing GMA never forgave and forgot, and made them pay for by treating Cory shabbily while she lay on her deathbed.

Put more actively, Noynoy has made his opposition to GMA clear. He is no loyal opposition in the way that Joker Arroyo and Manny are, Joker being a maverick only in his own mind and Manny being opposed only to his current lot in life. GMA, Noynoy says, was his teacher only in school, not in life. He is not sure about the quality of GMA’s lessons in economics, but he is sure about the quality of her lessons in governance. He is not sure about what will happen before she leaves, but he is sure about what will happen after she does. She will be made to answer for her sins.

Manny has not. That is the sound of the boomerang rushing back full speed. In the end, he will not be seen for what he has done, which is bad enough as it is, he will be seen for what he has not. He has not raised a voice against the oppression, preferring, like Joker, the other loyal oppositionist, to criticize only the people around the fake ruler, as though she were not the source, animator and instigator of what they do.

He has not said anything about what steps his government will take to bring to justice someone who has ushered in a culture of pillage, a culture of impunity, a culture of rottenness that has devastated the land more than “Ondoy” and “Pepeng.” He has not done anything to dispel widespread public belief that he is in fact GMA’s own, the secret candidate of Malacañang, the “sleeper” who will spring to life at the proper time like the Manchurian candidate to do as bid, or as negotiated.

Charge it to, well, experience.