KORONADAL, South Cotabato, Philippines – Nacionalista Party standard-bearer Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. has been touring Mindanao in the past two days in an attempt to bring up his numbers in the region.
Villar has recognized that his ratings were down in Mindanao based on the latest Pulse Asia survey on the presidential aspirants and acknowledged that he had to work harder to bring up his numbers there.
Since Tuesday, Villar has gone on a tour of the colleges and universities and markets of Davao and Cotabato.
Based on the cheers that he drew from the students, Villar appeared to be popular in those parts of Mindanao.
However, based on the February Pulse Asia survey, Villar got just 19 percent of the votes in Mindanao, compared to his closest rivals Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III (38 percent) and former President Joseph Estrada (31 percent).
Villar said he believes he is getting his message across to the people of Mindanao, that is to improve the lives of the poor.
However, Villar failed to get his message across to two sectors in the region, specifically the Integrated Bar of the Philippines and The Kingdom of Jesus Christ The Name Above Every Name in Davao when he snubbed their presidential forums last Tuesday.
Villar was in Davao and for some reason did not attend both forums held on the same day but at different times.
Interviewed by reporters at the campus of the University of Southern Mindanao in Kabacan, Villar offered very little of an apology to the two organizations and merely gave a general excuse for his non-appearance at the two events.
Villar said he was caught up in several meetings the whole day and that he could not satisfy all the requests for his appearance, including the forums.
“I have a lot of reasons, up to a hundred of them and this is what I have been telling the organizers,” he said in Filipino. “We don’t have enough time to go around and the pressure is really very strong considering that we have just two months left (to campaign).”
Meanwhile, Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros, a senatorial bet of the Liberal Party, yesterday challenged Villar to denounce in public the extortion activities of the New People’s Army (NPA).
Hontiveros said Villar – a capitalist being a successful businessman – should also condemn the permits-to-campaign (PTCs) which the NPA issues to political parties, for them to woo voters in its supposed strongholds.
Villar was earlier quoted as saying that he need not pay PTC fees simply because he has two “friends” in his ticket, referring to Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo and Gabriela Rep. Liza Maza.
– With Delon Porcalla