SWS: NOYNOY TO BEAT VILLAR IF POLLS WERE HELD TODAY
MANILA, JANUARY 13, 2010 (STAR) By Jess Diaz - Liberal Party standard-bearer Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III will beat Sen. Manuel Villar of the Nacionalista Party in a one-on-one fight if the elections were held today.This was the result of the Dec. 27-28, 2009 Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey commissioned by San Juan Rep. Ronaldo Zamora, who is a Villar supporter.
Aquino would obtain 52 percent of the votes, while Villar would receive 44 percent.
In a wider field that includes former President Joseph Estrada and ruling party standard-bearer Gilbert Teodoro Jr., Aquino would beat Villar by a wider margin of 10-11 percentage points.
Aquino would obtain 44 percent and Villar 33 percent. This is the part of the SWS report that Villar’s camp leaked to the media last weekend. It did not leak the one-on-one result.
In the wider field, Estrada obtained 15 percent and Teodoro five percent.
Zamora reportedly paid P3.3 million for the SWS survey.
The billionaire Zamora brothers are supporting different presidential aspirants. While Rep. Zamora is a Villar ally, mining magnate Salvador “Buddy” Zamora has been a supporter of Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas, Aquino’s running mate.
It is not clear whom the third Zamora, Manuel, a banking and mining tycoon, is supporting.
In the wake of the SWS findings, the Villar camp has reportedly started negotiations with Estrada for the former president to withdraw from the presidential race in favor of the Nacionalista candidate.
Sources in the House of Representatives said it is clear from the survey that an Estrada withdrawal would favor Villar.
“An endorsement from the ousted president could enable Villar to further narrow down the gap between him and Noynoy,” a congressman, who did not want to be named, said.
He said Villar’s camp is offering reimbursement of expenses to Estrada.
Villar and Estrada have been allies since after the 2007 elections when Villar obtained the ousted president’s support in his quest for the Senate presidency.
Estrada’s senator-son Jinggoy voted for Villar as Senate president. Jinggoy was chosen Senate president pro-tempore.
The House source said another factor that could put the two leading presidential aspirants in a tighter battle would be the support of the Arroyo administration for the Nacionalista standard-bearer.
“Between Noynoy and Villar, the administration will go for Villar,” he stressed.
The results of the Zamora-commissioned survey have sparked a bitter word war between Aquino and his closest opponent and their supporters.
Their camps took turns in hitting each other, turning the pre-election spectacle into a word war.
NP senatorial candidate Susan Ople reminded the LP camp that Villar was ousted as Senate president while upholding the independence and defending the integrity of the Senate two years ago.
Villar’s supporters early on suspected that the coup led by now Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile was part of the pressure because the Villar-led Senate conducted inquiries into the scandals in the Arroyo administration.
In a statement, Ople disputed Aquino’s contention that Villar did not take part in questioning the officials of the Arroyo administration, particularly over the “Hello Garci” and NBN-ZTE scams.
“No greater proof of his credentials as a fiscalizer than the coup that unseated him,” Ople said.
‘Transactional leader’
Aquino said he never intended to pick a fight with Villar since he could defend his performance as a legislator and his positions over pressing issues.
Aquino added he was not questioning the latest SWS survey that showed his lead over Villar had narrowed down, and did not mind that his statement that some surveys were credible and others “incredible” and “bought from Quiapo” was misinterpreted to pertain to the SWS.
“We have always considered SWS reputable. I was thinking about other surveys but that’s how the news came out,” he said.
Aquino turned the tables on Villar and said the NP bet was the one who had been pretending to be in the opposition by simply taking the sidelines against the Arroyo administration.
Aquino said at the height of the “Hello, Garci” scandal in 2005, the LP then led by former Senate president Franklin Drilon called for the resignation of President Arroyo but Villar, as head of the NP, was quiet.
Villar had been relying on his members and the “majority” even while he was the Senate president.
Aquino shared the observation of some of his colleagues that Villar had never wanted to face his colleagues in debates but would mostly engage in negotiations and come up with “consensus” on issues.
“I do not want to use the word transactional. But sometimes he would even say ‘I would just go with the majority,’” Aquino said.
Aquino also hit Villar for taking credit for his performance as legislator.
“He keeps on telling people about performance, let us look at what is being done from what is being said,” he said.
Aquino pointed out that Villar had been declaring he was against the Arroyo administration.
In one instance, Villar did not even participate in the budget deliberations and simply sent a letter to the Senate for his vote to be counted, he said.
“His absence (in the deliberations) is one thing and then comes a letter from him supporting the budget (proposal of Mrs. Arroyo). The budget is the legislator’s way to influence policy,” Aquino said, adding that he made a protest vote against the budget for what could be some anomalous provisions in the national outlay.
Villar has not been attending sessions since he was busy touring the country after announcing his bid for the presidency.
Colleagues in the Senate were also questioning Villar’s leadership style.
Senators Panfilo Lacson and Jamby Madrigal said Villar had been transactional from the beginning, doing everything to save himself and his own interests.
They said Villar secured to get the votes of administration senators when members of the opposition planned to replace him with Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. after the 2007 elections.
And instead of facing the Senate Committee of the Whole, they said Villar sought the signatures of 11 of their colleagues to dismiss the charges against him regarding the C-5 road extension project controversy.
Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros, one of Aquino’s senatorial candidates, also said the fact that Villar has been receiving his P200 million in annual pork barrel allocations from Malacañang proves that he never really went against President Arroyo. – With Aurea Calica, Christina Mendez
VILLAR CHALLENGED NOYNOY TO SHOW ACHIEVEMENTS, CALLS HIM A LIAR
(STAR) By Christina Mendez - Nacionalista Party standard-bearer Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. called his closest rival, Sen. Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino III, a liar for saying that he did not lift a finger on the corruption cases against President Arroyo’s administration.Aquino said Villar should not claim credit for what his partymates did.
Villar accused the Liberal Party standard-bearer of “lying” when he said he was not at the forefront of the campaign against the corruption of the Arroyo administration.
“You know, he is lying on that aspect. He knows very well that I and members of the Nacionalista Party handled three big investigations against President Arroyo,” said Villar in a radio interview with dzXL.
“That is why I can’t help but laugh at Noynoy’s allegations… (he) doesn’t seem to know what’s been happening since the Liberal Party has not done major accomplishments like these,” Villar added.
He said he was very much involved and consented to the inquiries on the NBN-ZTE deal and “Hello, Garci” controversy when he was Senate president.
As chairman of the Senate committee on public order and safety, Villar said he conducted hearings on the jueteng scandal.
In his incumbency as chairman of the NP, Villar noted that he and key members of the party were instrumental in the congressional inquiries on the administration’s alleged corruption.
Former Rep. Gilbert Remulla was involved in the probe of the “Hello Garci,” which delved on alleged election fraud in the 2004 elections.
Another ally, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, also investigated the NBN-ZTE scam when he was chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee under the Senate presidency of Villar.
The national broadband network/ZTE deal involves allegations of corruption in the awarding of a $329-million contract to Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE for the proposed government-managed NBN.
During a visit to the University of the Visayas yesterday for the covenant of alliance signing with NP and a local party in Cebu, Villar said he had no idea if Aquino was really hitting on him, but said it was better if Aquino would present his achievements in public governance to the public, as he had also challenged other presidential candidates to do.
“All candidates should show what they have accomplished for the people. That question is applicable to us all - (Richard) Gordon, (Gilberto Teodoro) Gibo, (former President Joseph Estrada) Erap - all of us should show and tell what we have done for the people during the previous years because without any experience, how can we convince the public that we will accomplish the platform that we promised to them,” Villar said.
Meanwhile, the word war between the camps of leading presidential candidate Aquino and Villar escalated yesterday with congressmen joining the fray.
“Where was the NP during the impeachment of President Arroyo? The NP was nowhere to be found during the impeachment,” Quezon Rep. Erin Tañada, who belongs to Aquino’s LP, said.
He said some congressmen belonging to Villar’s party, including Remulla, supported Mrs. Arroyo’s ouster through the impeachment process. But most NP lawmakers were against it, he said.
Tañada pointed out that the LP bloc in the House led by then Tarlac Rep. Noynoy Aquino was the biggest group that voted to impeach Mrs. Arroyo.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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