GMA: Ensure Gibo-Edu win
Posted on 6:40 PM, under Edu Manzano, Gilbert Teodoro, lakas-kampi, Vice Presidentiables
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MANILA, Philippines - Acknowledging the “big and arduous task” ahead for the ruling party, President Arroyo directed yesterday her party mates to work hard to ensure the victory of Lakas-Kampi-CMD standard-bearer Gilbert Teodoro and running mate Edu Manzano in the May 2010 elections.
"Hindi po ako natatakot na tanggapin ang hamon na ito ‘pagkat di ko hamon ito, hamon po nating lahat," Teodoro his partymates and stalwarts, led by President Arroyo during Lakas-Kampi convention at PICC, Pasay City.
Mrs. Arroyo gave the order just before she formally relinquished the chairmanship of the Lakas-Kampi-CMD to Teodoro during the party’s jampacked national convention at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.
She said with the party’s selection of “capable, competent, energetic leaders to lead us into the next generation, our national initiative to fight poverty and reach the First World within this generation can succeed.”
“But, first things first. Let us get them elected, elected with as big a mandate as you our leaders in the countryside and urban centers can win from our people, so that they can go beyond building on the gains of the programs of this administration and lead a new reform agenda on pro-people reforms, ever guided by the institutional ideology of our party, the ideology of Christian democracy enriched by your interfaith dialogue with our Muslim brothers and sisters,” Mrs. Arroyo said.
“This is a big and arduous task. But our party has been challenged many times before and has won,” she said.
“It is now time to consolidate our ranks and fortify our party for the electoral battle ahead,” she said.
Teodoro continues to rate poorly in surveys but administration officials said the ratings would go up once he goes out and presses flesh. Mrs. Arroyo described Teodoro as “young and brilliant.”
“This is a far-sighted decision and it keeps the tradition of free, democratic, and transparent selection of candidates that our party holds sacred,” the President said.
She said she was heartened by the presence of so many familiar faces and recognizable names that stood by Lakas-Kampi-CMD despite some defections.
“There’s no one here dragged or bused from just anywhere. But all are leaders, genuine leaders who are all here, as many as can fit in this room,” Mrs. Arroyo said.
“So many leaders here from all over the country with a genuine mandate from their own people demonstrates that indeed our party is a party that can win,” she said.
The President stressed that Lakas-Kampi-CMD has been the largest political party in the country for 15 of the last 17 years and that 72 percent of the country’s elected leaders are part of it.
“Think of it: almost three out of every four elected leader is a party member. This overwhelming majority confirms that our party is the true party of the people,” she said.
She also said the merger of Lakas-CMD and Kampi has been upheld by the Commission on Elections despite the “legal challenges thrown our way by those whose personal interests were prejudiced by the merger.”
“May each and every party leader and each and every party grassroots member work hard and work together for the victory of our party, our party’s standard-bearers, and all our party’s candidates in 2010,” Mrs. Arroyo said.
Rule of law
“Our engagement in politics is to serve the people in the context of a peaceful Filipino society built on the rule of law that enables every citizen to pursue his dreams and renders to each citizen what is his due,” Teodoro said in his speech.
“We shall protect the life of each and every citizen. This respect for life shall be from the moment of conception to the moment of death. The protection of life is guaranteed by our Constitution, and on this principle, there is no compromise,” Teodoro said.
“The human rights of each Filipino citizen shall be guaranteed and promoted at home and protected abroad,” he said.
He also said family would take center stage under his administration.
“The right of parents to bring up their children cannot be violated since the children are the coming generations and on their will rests the structuring of the future of our country and of civilization,” Teodoro pointed out.
Job, education
He also promised to tackle unemployment squarely and complement the effort through enhanced public education and health.
“Every Filipino has a right to be fully employed, because it is in work that a person finds his fulfillment as a human being and gains the means to secure his dignity,” he said.
“And to assure our citizens the exercise of human rights, together, as a nation, we shall address the four faces of poverty: poverty of the mind, poverty of the pocket, poverty of the environment, and poverty of relationships,” he said.
“Education and health are fundamental rights of citizens, thus constitute a duty of the state. Like the IRA (Internal Revenue Allotment) for the LGUs, poor families shall have a direct share of the annual national income to ensure that their children have complete basic education,” he said.
“Access to tertiary education shall be universal and the state shall institute innovative financial arrangements to enable each home to have a college diploma, and in every family, a college graduate,” he pointed out.
“Indigent families shall be automatically and universally covered by state health insurance and shall pay no excess fees for their healthcare and hospitalization,” he said.
Defections belittled
He also belittled recent high-profile party defections
“It’s natural in politics. That’s the way it is. Some leave and some take their oath,” Teodoro said in Filipino, referring to Batangas Gov. Vilma Santos, her husband former senator Ralph Recto and Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte who moved to the Liberal Party.
Teodoro said he still has the backing of 17 regional Lakas-Kampi-CMD leaders who all attended the party’s national convention.
He said he welcomes offers of help, but stressed they should be in accordance with party principles and guidelines, including those coming from his uncle businessman Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco.
Malacañang, meanwhile, said President Arroyo doesn’t mind the defections very much, and that she doesn’t see them as acts of betrayal.
“When you get old in politics, you become very understanding, you have to give some leeway to the wishes of other people,” Ermita said in Filipino.
“But when you are still young, your first reaction is the opposite. If you don’t agree with what has been done, your reaction is to pick a fight immediately. When you get to be more matured, you become more understanding,” he added.
Ermita also said that defections are expected in these situations because not all of the aspirants can be accommodated.
In the case of Batangas, Ermita said that Santos’ transfer to the LP has made it easier for Lakas-Kampi-CMD to move.
“Now the battle lines are very defined. That’s what I mean,” Ermita said.
‘Game na’
Manzano said he’s got what it takes to be vice president and that he’s ready to face his opposition rivals who are faring better in surveys.
“In questioning my qualifications for the vice presidency simply because of one of my professions, my detractors virtually made a wholesale condemnation of those in the entertainment industry as being unfit and incapable of providing competent leadership to our people,” Manzano said in his acceptance speech.
He said his being asked to be Teodoro’s running mate was “a daunting challenge that I find most difficult to reject.”
“What they (detractors) do not realize is that in effect, they also question the intellectual capacity of everyday Filipinos to decide who their leaders should be,” Manzano said.
Manzano proudly claimed that he probably had more experience at 54 than any of his opponents from the other political parties.
He served in the United States Air Force during his younger years and was able to take up a course in civil engineering as part of his military service.
When he returned to Manila as a young adult, Manzano studied economics at the De La Salle University and on the side, became a judo black belter and champion.
He became vice mayor of Makati City in 1998. He ran for mayor in 2001 but lost to Jejomar Binay.
Manzano said he sees nothing wrong with a political party bringing in some star power to boost its chances in the polls.
“There’s nothing wrong with that. I think even John McCain did it and many people jumped on the Obama bandwagon,” he said.
“Celebrity appeal is always something that’s a given. Any candidate for that matter always looks for someone who can boost his chances and I can only be so glad to help Secretary Gibo,” he said.
“Sarah Palin’s experience was limited to Alaska. In my case, I’ve been president of the Vice Mayors’ League for a long time. I have been around the Philippines. I had a chance to network with my fellow vice mayors who are now mayors and governors so I think I bring a little bit more to the table than just celebrity appeal,” Manzano said on being compared to former Alaska governor and US vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Palin provided star power to the Republican Party but she had to face ridicule during the campaign for her limited knowledge in foreign affairs.
Doomed
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and Sen. Francis Pangilinan said the administration is destined to lose in the elections because of the many controversies that hounded it in the past eight years.
“I don’t think that they are running at all. And the biggest question mark is (Vice President) Noli (de Castro). Why is Noli so quiet? Has he entered into a modus vivendi with (President) Gloria (Arroyo)? So that when Gloria runs for congresswoman in Pampanga she can make an announcement that she resigns and lets Noli become president in the meantime… That is a malicious scenario,” Pimentel said during the Kapihan sa Senado forum.
Pimentel also said Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri’s father, Bukidnon Gov. Jose Zubiri, might also bolt the administration party to join the Liberal Party.
“One thing is certain, the administration has no hope of attracting more followers,” he said.
“If (Lakas-Kampi-CMD) miserably failed to deliver the votes in the 2007 Senate elections despite their machinery, how will they be able to deliver the votes now in an even more challenging presidential race? If they failed then despite being more or less a party intact, how will they deliver now when they are facing massive defections?” Pangilinan asked.
“I don’t know. He’s not here but he has not left the party. I cannot comment on the matter,” Zubiri said on his father’s rumored defection to the LP. The younger Zubiri himself said he would remain with Lakas. –With Marvin Sy, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Jess Diaz, Aurea Calica, Dino Balabo - By Paolo Romero and Jaime Laude (Philstar News Service, www.philstar.com)
"Hindi po ako natatakot na tanggapin ang hamon na ito ‘pagkat di ko hamon ito, hamon po nating lahat," Teodoro his partymates and stalwarts, led by President Arroyo during Lakas-Kampi convention at PICC, Pasay City.
Mrs. Arroyo gave the order just before she formally relinquished the chairmanship of the Lakas-Kampi-CMD to Teodoro during the party’s jampacked national convention at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.
She said with the party’s selection of “capable, competent, energetic leaders to lead us into the next generation, our national initiative to fight poverty and reach the First World within this generation can succeed.”
“But, first things first. Let us get them elected, elected with as big a mandate as you our leaders in the countryside and urban centers can win from our people, so that they can go beyond building on the gains of the programs of this administration and lead a new reform agenda on pro-people reforms, ever guided by the institutional ideology of our party, the ideology of Christian democracy enriched by your interfaith dialogue with our Muslim brothers and sisters,” Mrs. Arroyo said.
“This is a big and arduous task. But our party has been challenged many times before and has won,” she said.
“It is now time to consolidate our ranks and fortify our party for the electoral battle ahead,” she said.
Teodoro continues to rate poorly in surveys but administration officials said the ratings would go up once he goes out and presses flesh. Mrs. Arroyo described Teodoro as “young and brilliant.”
“This is a far-sighted decision and it keeps the tradition of free, democratic, and transparent selection of candidates that our party holds sacred,” the President said.
She said she was heartened by the presence of so many familiar faces and recognizable names that stood by Lakas-Kampi-CMD despite some defections.
“There’s no one here dragged or bused from just anywhere. But all are leaders, genuine leaders who are all here, as many as can fit in this room,” Mrs. Arroyo said.
“So many leaders here from all over the country with a genuine mandate from their own people demonstrates that indeed our party is a party that can win,” she said.
The President stressed that Lakas-Kampi-CMD has been the largest political party in the country for 15 of the last 17 years and that 72 percent of the country’s elected leaders are part of it.
“Think of it: almost three out of every four elected leader is a party member. This overwhelming majority confirms that our party is the true party of the people,” she said.
She also said the merger of Lakas-CMD and Kampi has been upheld by the Commission on Elections despite the “legal challenges thrown our way by those whose personal interests were prejudiced by the merger.”
“May each and every party leader and each and every party grassroots member work hard and work together for the victory of our party, our party’s standard-bearers, and all our party’s candidates in 2010,” Mrs. Arroyo said.
Rule of law
“Our engagement in politics is to serve the people in the context of a peaceful Filipino society built on the rule of law that enables every citizen to pursue his dreams and renders to each citizen what is his due,” Teodoro said in his speech.
“We shall protect the life of each and every citizen. This respect for life shall be from the moment of conception to the moment of death. The protection of life is guaranteed by our Constitution, and on this principle, there is no compromise,” Teodoro said.
“The human rights of each Filipino citizen shall be guaranteed and promoted at home and protected abroad,” he said.
He also said family would take center stage under his administration.
“The right of parents to bring up their children cannot be violated since the children are the coming generations and on their will rests the structuring of the future of our country and of civilization,” Teodoro pointed out.
Job, education
He also promised to tackle unemployment squarely and complement the effort through enhanced public education and health.
“Every Filipino has a right to be fully employed, because it is in work that a person finds his fulfillment as a human being and gains the means to secure his dignity,” he said.
“And to assure our citizens the exercise of human rights, together, as a nation, we shall address the four faces of poverty: poverty of the mind, poverty of the pocket, poverty of the environment, and poverty of relationships,” he said.
“Education and health are fundamental rights of citizens, thus constitute a duty of the state. Like the IRA (Internal Revenue Allotment) for the LGUs, poor families shall have a direct share of the annual national income to ensure that their children have complete basic education,” he said.
“Access to tertiary education shall be universal and the state shall institute innovative financial arrangements to enable each home to have a college diploma, and in every family, a college graduate,” he pointed out.
“Indigent families shall be automatically and universally covered by state health insurance and shall pay no excess fees for their healthcare and hospitalization,” he said.
Defections belittled
He also belittled recent high-profile party defections
“It’s natural in politics. That’s the way it is. Some leave and some take their oath,” Teodoro said in Filipino, referring to Batangas Gov. Vilma Santos, her husband former senator Ralph Recto and Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte who moved to the Liberal Party.
Teodoro said he still has the backing of 17 regional Lakas-Kampi-CMD leaders who all attended the party’s national convention.
He said he welcomes offers of help, but stressed they should be in accordance with party principles and guidelines, including those coming from his uncle businessman Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco.
Malacañang, meanwhile, said President Arroyo doesn’t mind the defections very much, and that she doesn’t see them as acts of betrayal.
“When you get old in politics, you become very understanding, you have to give some leeway to the wishes of other people,” Ermita said in Filipino.
“But when you are still young, your first reaction is the opposite. If you don’t agree with what has been done, your reaction is to pick a fight immediately. When you get to be more matured, you become more understanding,” he added.
Ermita also said that defections are expected in these situations because not all of the aspirants can be accommodated.
In the case of Batangas, Ermita said that Santos’ transfer to the LP has made it easier for Lakas-Kampi-CMD to move.
“Now the battle lines are very defined. That’s what I mean,” Ermita said.
‘Game na’
Manzano said he’s got what it takes to be vice president and that he’s ready to face his opposition rivals who are faring better in surveys.
“In questioning my qualifications for the vice presidency simply because of one of my professions, my detractors virtually made a wholesale condemnation of those in the entertainment industry as being unfit and incapable of providing competent leadership to our people,” Manzano said in his acceptance speech.
He said his being asked to be Teodoro’s running mate was “a daunting challenge that I find most difficult to reject.”
“What they (detractors) do not realize is that in effect, they also question the intellectual capacity of everyday Filipinos to decide who their leaders should be,” Manzano said.
Manzano proudly claimed that he probably had more experience at 54 than any of his opponents from the other political parties.
He served in the United States Air Force during his younger years and was able to take up a course in civil engineering as part of his military service.
When he returned to Manila as a young adult, Manzano studied economics at the De La Salle University and on the side, became a judo black belter and champion.
He became vice mayor of Makati City in 1998. He ran for mayor in 2001 but lost to Jejomar Binay.
Manzano said he sees nothing wrong with a political party bringing in some star power to boost its chances in the polls.
“There’s nothing wrong with that. I think even John McCain did it and many people jumped on the Obama bandwagon,” he said.
“Celebrity appeal is always something that’s a given. Any candidate for that matter always looks for someone who can boost his chances and I can only be so glad to help Secretary Gibo,” he said.
“Sarah Palin’s experience was limited to Alaska. In my case, I’ve been president of the Vice Mayors’ League for a long time. I have been around the Philippines. I had a chance to network with my fellow vice mayors who are now mayors and governors so I think I bring a little bit more to the table than just celebrity appeal,” Manzano said on being compared to former Alaska governor and US vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Palin provided star power to the Republican Party but she had to face ridicule during the campaign for her limited knowledge in foreign affairs.
Doomed
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and Sen. Francis Pangilinan said the administration is destined to lose in the elections because of the many controversies that hounded it in the past eight years.
“I don’t think that they are running at all. And the biggest question mark is (Vice President) Noli (de Castro). Why is Noli so quiet? Has he entered into a modus vivendi with (President) Gloria (Arroyo)? So that when Gloria runs for congresswoman in Pampanga she can make an announcement that she resigns and lets Noli become president in the meantime… That is a malicious scenario,” Pimentel said during the Kapihan sa Senado forum.
Pimentel also said Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri’s father, Bukidnon Gov. Jose Zubiri, might also bolt the administration party to join the Liberal Party.
“One thing is certain, the administration has no hope of attracting more followers,” he said.
“If (Lakas-Kampi-CMD) miserably failed to deliver the votes in the 2007 Senate elections despite their machinery, how will they be able to deliver the votes now in an even more challenging presidential race? If they failed then despite being more or less a party intact, how will they deliver now when they are facing massive defections?” Pangilinan asked.
“I don’t know. He’s not here but he has not left the party. I cannot comment on the matter,” Zubiri said on his father’s rumored defection to the LP. The younger Zubiri himself said he would remain with Lakas. –With Marvin Sy, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Jess Diaz, Aurea Calica, Dino Balabo - By Paolo Romero and Jaime Laude (Philstar News Service, www.philstar.com)
