03/08/2010Original Story: http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/20100308hed1.html
The recent Pulse Asia survey showing the United Opposition’s (UNO)-Partido ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) ticket for the May 10 elections is starting to catch up with the frontrunners had triggered bigger support to former President Joseph Estrada and his running mate Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, including the traditional administration bailiwick of Cebu province.
Estrada said based on the recent survey, Filipinos are now seeing through the real colors of Estrada’s rivals who are supposedly opposition candidates,adding the two frontrunners — Liberal Party (LP) bet Sen. Benigno Aquino III and Nacionalista Party (NP) standard bearer Manuel Villar Jr. — played pivotal roles in imposing on the people the widely rejected administration of President Arroyo.
In the UNO-PMP sortie in Subic, Zambales, Estrada said sincerity is key to winning the trust of the people and not the quantity of television advertisements and celebrity endorsers.
Apparently taking a potshot at Aquino and Villar, Estrada said people will eventually see the real motives behind every candidate’s decision to run in the 2010 elections as they draw nearer and the campaign digs deeper.
“The Aquinos played a great role in the unconstitutional ouster dubbed as Edsa Dos and Senator Villar was responsible for railroading the impeachment trial. They are the ones responsible for putting this present administration in power so they cannot claim, that they are truly members of the opposition. They are only members of the opposition when convenient,” Estrada said.
Estrada said their campaign is also highlighting the fact that only the Erap camp is the true opposition.
Estrada said no matter how many advertisements are placed or how many actors and actresses are used to support candidates, “if you are not really sincere with your motives, the people will see through you”.
Estrada said such was the formula that he maintained as he was able to pull his survey ratings up by six percent in a short span of just three weeks.
Estrada said that the people cannot be fooled as to who among the candidates is really for the poor and who are for the poor only during election times.
“The people know the candidate who is really pro-poor from the start and the pretenders who uses pro-poor slogans to win in the coming elections,” he said.
UNO vice presidential hopeful and Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, meanwhile, met with fellow local officials from Cebu City and neighboring provinces to discuss ideas on how to improve and empower local governments under the best practices precedent set by Makati, the country’s premier financial district.
Under the UNO platform, good governance, which stems from the grassroots, is the key to the development of the country as an emerging leader in the Asia-Pacific in trade and agriculture.
According to Binay, the Makati experience can be replicated throughout the country through good fiscal management and the targeted allotment of government funds to essential projects involving health, education, investment and employment generation.
“Before I assumed as mayor of Makati in 1986, the situation was very similar to the current situation of the country now. There was an imbalance between the rich and the poor and the city government, instead of addressing problems, was addressing how to line their pockets with taxpayers’ money,” he said.
“But good leaders try to strike a balance and serve the good of not only one sector of society, but all his constituents. That was how we were able to bridge the glaring gap between the two extremes of the social strata in Makati. Now, all of our residents equally get the same benefits. We make their taxes work for them,” he explained.
“This is possible on a national scale, but only if the future leaders of the country are dedicated to serving the people – only those who have the political will and a clear plan of action will be able to pull it off,” he added.
Binay added that former President Estrada, his running mate, who is taking another shot at the presidency, was also a mayor of San Juan before advancing to the Senator, Vice President and later on as President.
He said that had Erap not been ousted from office by those who conspired to wrest the leadership out of the popular chief executive’s hands, then the gains of the Estrada administration would have been sustained to benefit Filipinos in the countryside now.
At the Waterfront Hotel in Lagug Cebu, Tagbilaran Bohol Mayor Dan Lim and Bantayan Island Mayor Geraldine Escario assured their support for Binay and expressed their belief in his leadership capabilities.
Other local government officials lent their support to the six-term mayor including Engr. Regel Bacula, municipal councilor of Carmen, Cebu. Carmen is one of over 200 local cities and municipalities that have sisterhood city relationships with Makati City.
Businessmen Wilhelm Go, Mariquit Salimbahon and Waterfront Hotel owner William Gatchalian also met with Binay, pledging their support for his campaign for the second highest position in the land.
Binay, who is recognized internationally as one of the best mayors of Asia, also holds the record of being the local government chief executive with the longest term. His service as Makati City Mayor began through his appointment to the post by former President Corazon Aquino, a few days after the EDSA revolution.
With 16 years of experience in the local executive branch of government, Binay now calls on the citizenry to elect him as Vice President, claiming he, along with party standard bearer Estrada, are the only ones among the current candidates with the experience and skills for the top executive positions.
in a 2002 study conducted by the Policy Center of the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), Makati ranked second only to Japan, outranking Malaysia, China and Indonesia in the Human Development Index (HDI).
The criteria for HDI rankings – a tool developed by the United Nations – include life expectancy, adult literacy, school enrolment, educational attainment, and per capita gross national product (GNP).
Jason Faustino
Original Story: http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/20100308hed1.html
No comments:
Post a Comment