Opening salvos fired

MANILA, Philippines - Campaign posters went up and jingles blared at election rallies and motorcades all over the country yesterday as the country’s richest politician and the son of its democracy icon fired the opening salvos in the tight race to succeed President Arroyo.

Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, son of former President Corazon Aquino and former Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr., and his main rival Sen. Manny Villar are promising a fresh start and clean government for the Philippines after nine years of tumultuous rule dotted with coup attempts and corruption allegations.

Aquino, campaigning in Concepcion Tarlac, took potshots at Villar.

“We all know our opponent has the money. And there are those who say that the forces of darkness will come together,” he said in his speech. “The question is, will the force of light be overpowered?”

Aquino had an early head start in popularity thanks to his family name, but recent opinion polls put the two major candidates in a statistical dead heat, with analysts suggesting Villar’s lavish campaign spending has allowed him to catch up.

Villar’s Nacionalista Party, which kicked off the 90-day campaign in Calamba, Laguna yesterday, downplayed the attacks by Aquino and the Liberal Party.

“I am spending my own money,” said Villar, who rose from poverty to make his fortune in real estate before entering politics.

Villar, 60, narrowly avoided censure by his colleagues in the Senate for his alleged role in the rerouting of a highway so that it passes close to his real estate developments. He said the charges are trumped up.

Aquino, 50, has anchored his campaign on fighting corruption and restoring the credibility of the judiciary and Congress, which he says have been seriously eroded by Arroyo. But he is also struggling to step out from the shadow of his mother Cory.

Elections in the Philippines are always colorful and typically marked by fraud and violence, but voters are hoping to turn over a new leaf after the scandal-plagued administration of Arroyo.

More than 50 million voters will choose a president, vice president, nearly 300 lawmakers in the two-chamber Congress, and more than 17,600 local government officials in the first nationwide automated polls on May 10.

Yesterday, candidates pressed hands with vendors, housewives, laborers and teenagers as they hopped from town to town just a few hours away from Metro Manila, visiting markets, parks and churches on the first of 90 days of campaigning.

Some candidates heard Mass at churches, with one transforming his rally into a prayer gathering, re-enacting the Lenten tradition of Jesus Christ washing the feet of his disciples to illustrate his desire to be a public servant.

Historically, popular personalities from political clans, the media, sports and show business dominate the elections in the Philippines, but some analysts are seeing some positive changes.

"In this election, I see a 50-50 ratio on personalities and platforms or issues as the political race heats up among the leading presidential candidates," said Ramon Casiple, executive director of Institute for Political and Electoral Reforms. – AP