BALANGA, Bataan, Philippines — Compared to US President Barack Obama, Nacionalista Party standard-bearer Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. expressed belief yesterday that he would be better in governing the country if his track record as former Speaker and Senate president were taken into consideration by voters during the elections next year.
“Si Obama, mas magaling tayo diyan,” Villar said referring to the US President who started as a neophyte lawmaker before becoming the leader of the world’s superpower.
Villar made the point as he urged the youth not to bank on the popularity of a presidential candidate alone in making their choice.
The next president should also be competitive enough to face presidents of other countries such as the Philippines’ neighboring countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore to be able to move the country forward.
He said aside from his political experience, his managerial skills as a real estate entrepreneur could also come in handy in the campaign to become the country’s next chief executive.
Villar said the next president should start working from Day One, not merely “learning the ropes” because the government is expecting a budget deficit of more than P300 billion by 2010.
He cited his mother Curita Bamba Villar who hails from Orani, Bataan, as a typical mother of a poor family, during his short talk with students who participated the Central Luzon Math-Science Quiz contest at the state university here.
Villar said he and his mother struggled to work as shrimp vendors at the Divisoria market in Manila, while his father who was then an ordinary employee at the Department of Agriculture earned a meager income that was not enough to support the brood of nine children.
“Palagay ko naman kahit hindi anak ng presidente, kahit anak ng mahihirap, pwedeng maging presidente (Maybe even those who are not a child of a president, and only a child from a poor family could become a president),” Villar told supporters and political allies in Orani.