CEBU, Philippines - Nacionalista Party standard bearer Manuel Villar yesterday dispelled once again that he is the secret candidate of the Arroyo administration, as he said that his party will have its own candidate for House Speaker when he takes over.
“She will just be a Speaker under a weak president and that’s not me,” Villar said during a roundtable discussion with The FREEMAN yesterday.
Villar, who is in Cebu to meet members of the media, said that he has not spoken to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo or to First Gentleman Mike Arroyo since he was removed as Senate President.
“Ako ay tumakbo bilang pangulo at ginagamit ko ang pera ko. Hindi ako humihingi at hindi ako binibigyan. Hindi kami nag-uusap ni GMA or FG,” Villar said.
Villar added that he has not even sent any emissary nor authorized anyone to negotiate with the President’s allies.
“These are all black propaganda. These are all lies,” Villar said referring to the tag that he is the one being supported by the Presi dent and not Lakas-Kampi CMD standard bearer Gilberto ‘Gibo’ Teodoro.
The NP standard bearer said that this country must be led by a leader who has the experience, competence and the managerial ability and not somebody, who has nothing except plans and promises.
“The next president must be a multi-tasker, hindi pwede yung one at a time. The problems in the country are so huge and the presidency has no probationary period.
“You can hire a great speech writer para mas maganda ang speech mo but the question is, can you implement your plans? Kaya mo ba,” Villar asked.
Villar said that he being in the private sector before, a House Speaker and Senate President, he has the experience in managing the people, which is a good measure of his leadership ability.
“Ikaw ba naranasan mo na bang mag-manage kay Jamby (Madrigal) at Miriam (Santiago) sa Senado? Hindi biro yon,” Villar said in jest.
Villar said that his campaign funds come from the party and their organization is still using NP and not the party of President Arroyo, which is Lakas-Kampi-CMD.
With regards to his campaign ad spending, he contended that other candidates have their own several advertisements too but it just so happened that his ads are the ones that are getting a lot of attention.
Villar, who is involved in the innovation and creativity of his campaign ads said that Liberal Party vice presidential candidate Mar Roxas may have spent more than what he spent in advertising.
He said that other presidential candidates like LP standard bearer, Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino have several ads, but such don’t get the same attention as those of his.
“Dahil maganda ang ads ko. Siguro yung sa kanila, hindi. Kasi baka hindi maganda,” he added. — /NLQ(FREEMAN NEWS)