FIRST BLOOD in the looming presidential war did Sen. Manuel Villar draw in Pampanga Friday last week, being the first of the putative presidentiables to hit the vote-rich province.
No, Villar was quick to assert, his coming was no presidential campaign launch – being as yet an unannounced, but most probable, candidate. It was the launch of a nationwide entrepreneurship movement called Multi-sectoral Organization of Volunteers for Entrepreneurship or MOVE.
And move – Villar did his audience of some 2,000 cheering, roaring, Kapampangans at the Holy Angel University in Angeles City consisting of inter-faith groups, small and medium entrepreneurs, the urban poor, NGOs, the youth, senior citizens, persons with disabilities and, of course, barangay officials. The presence of “miracle worker” Reghis Romero II is a give-away there.
“I am not campaigning yet because that’s still banned.” So Villar stressed. His words lost in the atmosphere of a presidential campaign sortie of a sea of orange shirts, orange balloons and orange confetti raining down on him. Orange, as if anybody needed to be reminded, is Villar’s campaign color.
The orange-shirted ex-city councilor, ex-city administrator Bong Alvaro, chair of MOVE-Central Luzon, did a yeoman’s job in lifting the spirits of the Villar partisans. As did a short audio-visual bio of Villar shown on giant screens on either side of the stage backdropped by a huge MOVE tarpaulin.
Villar’s brief speech was a crash course in fighting poverty as sampled by his own struggles in life from the squalor of Tondo to his corporate success in real estate.
And then – as in the presidential hustings – the requisite dig at the other aspirants.
“Noble vision and aspiration for the country is not enough,” Villar said without naming names. “After his oath-taking, the President must start real work right that afternoon.”
The nation, already buffeted by myriad problems, cannot be entrusted to one who would begin the presidency as an on-the-job training, said Villar.
Did he mean presidency-dreaming Eddie T. Panlilio, asked someone who looked like inter-faith convenor Joel San Pedro.
Or could it be Gilbert Teodoro, asked one who was a dead-ringer for Pampanga realtor Conrad Garcia.
Villar cited experience, political maturity and track record as premium in the selection of a president thus: “You must have enough experience to lead this nation of 90 million Filipinos. To save a drowning victim, you must know how to swim.” Else, the nation perishes. So did not have to say.
So, how can Panlilio even dream of leading the Philippines when he is an abject failure in his governance of Pampanga, asked one PWD who looked a lot like DWRW’s Deng Pangilinan.
Villar also struck at other unnamed presidentiables who allegedly have no known prominent businesses but could afford homes in a posh Makati village. This, even as he emphasized that he earned every centavo of his wealth legitimately through his real estate business.
So, who among the presidentiables nests in an enclave of affluence even when he does not have the means to show for it? Search me. Can’t think of anyone.
Still and all, Villar made a great impact in the Kapampangan electorate’s psyche that Friday afternoon.
“We are one in blood, one in team, one in spirit, one Filipino standing dedicated and determined…Together we will face every challenge, overcome any obstacle, and conquer 2010 as one team.” So pledged the audience to Villar.
The viability of Villar’s candidacy gets full certainty in his Pampanga sortie. And the local stalwarts of the Nacionalista Party that Villar heads have not even made their presence felt yet. Watch out for the erudite former Congressman Rimpy Bondoc’s second coming.
No, Villar was quick to assert, his coming was no presidential campaign launch – being as yet an unannounced, but most probable, candidate. It was the launch of a nationwide entrepreneurship movement called Multi-sectoral Organization of Volunteers for Entrepreneurship or MOVE.
And move – Villar did his audience of some 2,000 cheering, roaring, Kapampangans at the Holy Angel University in Angeles City consisting of inter-faith groups, small and medium entrepreneurs, the urban poor, NGOs, the youth, senior citizens, persons with disabilities and, of course, barangay officials. The presence of “miracle worker” Reghis Romero II is a give-away there.
“I am not campaigning yet because that’s still banned.” So Villar stressed. His words lost in the atmosphere of a presidential campaign sortie of a sea of orange shirts, orange balloons and orange confetti raining down on him. Orange, as if anybody needed to be reminded, is Villar’s campaign color.
The orange-shirted ex-city councilor, ex-city administrator Bong Alvaro, chair of MOVE-Central Luzon, did a yeoman’s job in lifting the spirits of the Villar partisans. As did a short audio-visual bio of Villar shown on giant screens on either side of the stage backdropped by a huge MOVE tarpaulin.
Villar’s brief speech was a crash course in fighting poverty as sampled by his own struggles in life from the squalor of Tondo to his corporate success in real estate.
And then – as in the presidential hustings – the requisite dig at the other aspirants.
“Noble vision and aspiration for the country is not enough,” Villar said without naming names. “After his oath-taking, the President must start real work right that afternoon.”
The nation, already buffeted by myriad problems, cannot be entrusted to one who would begin the presidency as an on-the-job training, said Villar.
Did he mean presidency-dreaming Eddie T. Panlilio, asked someone who looked like inter-faith convenor Joel San Pedro.
Or could it be Gilbert Teodoro, asked one who was a dead-ringer for Pampanga realtor Conrad Garcia.
Villar cited experience, political maturity and track record as premium in the selection of a president thus: “You must have enough experience to lead this nation of 90 million Filipinos. To save a drowning victim, you must know how to swim.” Else, the nation perishes. So did not have to say.
So, how can Panlilio even dream of leading the Philippines when he is an abject failure in his governance of Pampanga, asked one PWD who looked a lot like DWRW’s Deng Pangilinan.
Villar also struck at other unnamed presidentiables who allegedly have no known prominent businesses but could afford homes in a posh Makati village. This, even as he emphasized that he earned every centavo of his wealth legitimately through his real estate business.
So, who among the presidentiables nests in an enclave of affluence even when he does not have the means to show for it? Search me. Can’t think of anyone.
Still and all, Villar made a great impact in the Kapampangan electorate’s psyche that Friday afternoon.
“We are one in blood, one in team, one in spirit, one Filipino standing dedicated and determined…Together we will face every challenge, overcome any obstacle, and conquer 2010 as one team.” So pledged the audience to Villar.
The viability of Villar’s candidacy gets full certainty in his Pampanga sortie. And the local stalwarts of the Nacionalista Party that Villar heads have not even made their presence felt yet. Watch out for the erudite former Congressman Rimpy Bondoc’s second coming.
