Ex-colleague says Noli, Loren not fit for VP post

TARLAC CITY — A "mere news reader" and an "overrated television host."

That’s how radio and television host-turned-senatorial aspirant Jay Sonza described vice presidential candidates Sen. Noli de Castro and Sen. Loren Legarda, respectively, during a campaign rally here.

"I know them, they were my former employees," Sonza told university professors and students during a campaign sortie here of presidential candidate Raul Roco. "They are not qualified to become vice president."

Legarda, Sonza added, never wrote a single script for her defunct newsmagazine show "The Inside Story."

Following the footsteps of De Castro and Legarda, Sonza is running for a Senate seat under Roco’s Alyansa ng Pag-Asa three-party coalition.

De Castro is President Arroyo’s running mate while Legarda is with Mrs. Arroyo’s main rival, Fernando Poe Jr.

Asked for comment on the criticism, Poe’s Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP) said Sonza’s statements were uncalled for.

"Such kind of ungentlemanly act does not deserve an answer. I don’t want to dignify that, and he does not deserve to be given importance at all. His statement is, simply put, bastos (rude)," KNP spokesman Mike Romero told The STAR. "It does not speak well for someone who is running for the Senate for the first time. He should not resort to mudslinging."

De Castro, Legarda and Sonza were former news anchors of network giant ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp., where Sonza headed a division.

He, along with radio and television show host Mel Tiangco, left ABS-CBN for rival GMA-7 in the 1990s because of a dispute over company policy.

He and Tiangco co-host "Partners Mel and Jay," a talk show similar to the one they co-hosted on ABS-CBN.

Sonza told Tarlac State University professors and students that Herminio Aquino, Roco’s running mate and former vice governor of this province, is "the most qualified" candidate who should become the country’s next vice president.

He made it clear that his criticism were "not personal" and the vice presidential contest is "beyond friendship."

Legarda and De Castro handily won the 1998 and 2001 elections respectively because of their popularity. Both still host a show on ABS-CBN.

Aquino, meanwhile, is the youngest son of Gen. Servillano Aquino, a Katipunan revolutionary general from Tarlac after whom the headquarters of the military’s Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) in Barangay San Miguel here was named in his honor.

Contemporary martyr-hero, former senator Benigno Aquino Jr., was a nephew.

Aquino served as congressman of the province’s third district from 1987 to 1998. He was elected vice governor, but lost in his gubernatorial bid in 2001 to incumbent Gov. Jose Yap.

He served in Corazon Aquino’s Cabinet.

With a bachelor’s degree in economics and a masters degree in business management, Aquino’s record surpassed the "public service years of" De Castro and Legarda, Roco said.

"All these makes for excellent celebrity status for a candidate which some sectors say is relatively unknown," he added.

Because of his lack of political machinery and limited campaign funds, Roco said he and his lineup had to make several stopovers in public markets and schools during their day-long campaign sortie here.

He said they felt like "salesmen" going "from door to door," introducing themselves and explaining their program of government.

A popular former senator, Roco made a strong showing in the 1998 presidential race, placing third despite his lack of political machinery.

He consistently topped opinion polls earlier last year but later lost ground to Poe and Mrs. Arroyo.

Roco’s coalition is made up of his Aksyon Demokratiko party, former Cebu governor Lito Osmeña’s Probinsiya Muna Development Initiative, and former defense secretary Renato de Villa’s Reporma.

Political analysts say the May elections have become a popularity contest because mainly of Poe’s presidential bid.

Poe is widely believed to win the race despite his lack of public office experience because of his iconic movie star popularity. — With Nikko Dizon