http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100111-246652/Aquino-hits-back-at-Villar
Aquino hits back at Villar
‘Aren’t you supposed to lead by example?’
By Philip Tubeza
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:17:00 01/11/2010
Filed Under: Politics, Elections, Eleksyon 2010
MANILA, Philippines ? Where were you when push came to shove?
Sen. Benigno ?Noynoy? Aquino III came out swinging on Sunday against Sen. Manuel ?Manny? Villar for questioning his capacity to implement reforms, saying that Villar did not take the lead in questioning Arroyo administration scandals.
?When push came to shove, where were you? What have you done? He says he is not a person who easily picks a fight, but when you see the abuses in the system, does it not make you want to stand up and say enough is enough?? Aquino said in an interview.
?Aren?t you supposed to lead by example and not just leave it to your colleagues?? Aquino said, speaking in English and Filipino.
Aquino was responding to the questions Villar raised at a presidential debate on Saturday, where the Nacionalista Party (NP) standard-bearer questioned Aquino?s ability to implement real reforms.
Sen. Richard Gordon, who is also running for president in the May elections and is banking on his record of achievements as mayor of Olongapo City and administrator of Subic Bay Freeport and the Philippine National Red Cross, has also been blasting Aquino on the issue of competence.
Gordon said Aquino had not done anything to improve even his own hometown. Aquino said he did not think it was worth his while to comment on the remarks of a poll tailender. Gordon is among those at the bottom of popularity surveys.
?You talking about yourself??
?When I hear them say this, I say, ?Are you talking about me or are you talking about yourself??? Aquino said. ?This is a good thing ? to have face-to-face debates so that we can go head on.?
Aquino quoted Villar as saying that during the ?Hello Garci? scandal, it was then Cavite Rep. Gilbert Remulla, who is now the NP spokesperson, who was in the forefront while it was NP Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano who kept on hammering on the NBN-ZTE scam, a deal to wire the nation?s bureaucracy digitally that was scuttled after revelations of bribery and overprice.
?I?m saying this in the context of his statement that he is not a person who easily picks fights. But if you see something wrong, aren?t you supposed to do something about it? Why claim (credit for) what the others did?? Aquino said.
?How can we be sure that when you?re the one already in the leadership position, you?ll also do what your colleagues did?? he said.
?What have you done??
?After all the sound bites, what?s important is what you have done. I?ve followed through on all my commitments. I can (implement reforms). I will. I have to,? Aquino added.
He said that he even lost his position as deputy House Speaker when he took the Arroyo administration to task for the ?Hello Garci? scandal, referring to the purported wiretapped phone conversation between President Macapagal-Arroyo and former Election Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano.
Critics said the tapes were evidence Ms Arroyo stole the 2004 presidential election. She denies any wrongdoing.
?When you see that there is oppression and you do nothing, you are in effect also supporting that oppressive system,? Aquino added.
Not in oust-GMA moves
Reached for comment, Remulla said that Aquino, the Liberal Party standard-bearer, was ?never in the forefront? in the failed efforts in the House of Representatives when he was the Tarlac representative to impeach Ms Arroyo over the ?Hello Garci? scandal.
?The question is where was he? Even in the impeachment, he was never in the forefront. He could not even get his Liberal Party, as a leader in the House, to unite to vote to impeach (Ms Arroyo),? Remulla said.
?Senator Villar was in the background giving all out support to us,? he said, adding that even Villar?s wife, Las Piñas Rep. Cynthia Villar, was supportive of the attempt to oust Ms Arroyo.
Remulla also said that during the ?jueteng? scandal it was Senator Villar who chaired the hearings that produced Sandra Cam and other witnesses against the Arroyo administration.
?Senator Aquino should be careful in what he says because his record is not exemplary at all,? he added.
Nike salesman, reformer
Defending himself on the issue of competence, Aquino pointed to his experience in the private sector. He said he was a member of the team that helped Nike become popular in the country in the mid-1980s.
He said he also helped implement reforms in sugarcane production in his family?s Hacienda Luisita.
But more importantly, Aquino said that he had been keen on his role as a fiscalizer as a congressman and senator.
He said he tried to reform the Armed Forces? procurement process, particularly in its oil supply, by requiring public bidding.
Aquino said he also tried to have a select oversight committee formed in Congress to determine if the millions in unaccounted intelligence funds of government agencies were spent for their intended purposes.
Aquino said he was confident that he would be able to successfully implement real change in the country if he won the presidency because he also expected his base of supporters to take his administration to task if it failed to deliver on its promises.
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