Noli: Someone out to harm me

MALOLOS, Bulacan — Administration vice presidential candidate Sen. Noli de Castro fears that someone wants to "physically harm" him to stop him from being elected vice president.

"May mga binabanggit na pangalan, pero hindi ko na sasabihin," he told radio station dzMM in an interview. "Sa ngayon ay puro raw information ang natatanggap ko pero I take it seriously."

De Castro said he has received "raw" intelligence reports from the Armed Forces and the Philippine National Police that his life is in danger.

"Kapag desperado na ang isang tao, at dahil hindi nila ako masira sa pamamagitan ng black propaganda, ang pinangangambahan nga ay baka gawing physical na ang pagsira sa akin, na baka ako ay saktan o kung ano man," he said.

He said he cannot pinpoint the alleged plotters, but the plan could be "politically motivated."

Despite the threats, De Castro said he would not beef up his security as he believes the people would protect him.

The first-term senator said that he has received a threatening phone call, and that the caller warned him: "Madadale ka rin namin."

The number that appeared in his mobile phone could not be traced, he added.

On the other hand, Arnold Orbina of the People’s Alliance for Truth and Justice said De Castro’s claim that someone is out to kill him was "another gimmick" to save the senator’s "plummeting" candidacy.

"That’s paranoia hitting De Castro," he said in a statement. "The ghosts he himself created must be haunting him now, a few months before Halloween."

Orbina said the vice presidential candidate of Koalisyon ng Katapatan at Karanasan sa Kinabukasan merely wanted to divert public attention from the many charges of extortion that he is facing.

"Noli knows that the earlier surveys have been rigged in his favor, but that they could no longer come up with unbelievable leads for him after the many skeletons he had been hiding has come out in public," he said. — James Mananghaya