Villar expects more bets joining forces with NP

MANILA, Philippines - Now even fruits have taken on political color.

Just like the mandarin orange or ponkan, Nacionalista Party standard-bearer Senator Manuel Villar Jr. expects some of his opponents from the other parties, particularly the Lakas-Kampi-CMD, to change their colors and join forces with him as election day draws near.

Interviewed over dzRH, Villar pointed out that the ponkan starts out being green, the color of Lakas-Kampi-CMD standard-bearer Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro Jr.

But as election day nears, Villar said he expects more candidates from the other parties to turn orange, the color of the NP, just like a ripe ponkan.

“You will be surprised by the number of people going our way,” Villar said, adding that these include candidates from Lakas, Liberal Party and the Nationalist People’s Coalition.

Earlier this week, Villar announced that close to 300 members of the LP from three key provinces in the Caraga region have joined the NP.

In Agusan del Sur and Agusan del Norte alone, 171 local LP candidates took their oath before Villar last Monday.

The following day, 123 LP officials and members from 11 towns in Surigao del Norte defected to the NP.

Even before the start of the campaign period, the Lakas-Kampi-CMD camp had accused the NP of pirating their members.

Villar said the NP has the widest base of candidates among all parties and that this is evident in the senatorial slate of the party.

Meantime, overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Middle East countries declared their support yesterday for Villar and his vice presidential bet Sen. Loren Legarda.

OFWs belonging to Migrante International said their choice of who to vote for in the May 2010 polls “is based on principle and platform.”

“Our support to the Villar-Loren tandem does not come from nowhere,” the group’s Middle East regional coordinator spokesperson John Leonard Monterona said.

“It is based on principle and platform and we believe theirs is providing a concrete strategy to address the problem of forced labor migration, which is rooted in joblessness and landlessness. This we didn’t find from the other candidates,” he stressed.

Monterona said Villar has a plan of action on agrarian reform, the development of local industries and the protection and upliftment of the working people.

He added that Villar and his wife Cynthia have significantly contributed to Migrante’s efforts to empower OFWs and their families through educating them of their basic rights and privileges and also extending tangible assistance to migrant workers in distress and giving them opportunities to rebuild their lives.  – With Michael Punongbayan