Senate race: Battle lines drawn

By Marvin Sy and Delon Porcalla 
The Philippine Star

(Top) President Aquino leads the proclamation rally of Team PNOY at Plaza Miranda in Manila yesterday.; (Below) UNA ‘Three Kings’ Vice President Jejomar Binay, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and former President Joseph Estrada endorse the senatorial candidates of the coalition during the proclamation rally in Cebu yesterday. JOVEN CAGANDE/JONJON VICENCIO
(Top) President Aquino leads the proclamation rally of Team PNOY at Plaza Miranda in Manila yesterday.; (Below) UNA ‘Three Kings’ Vice President Jejomar Binay, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and former President Joseph Estrada endorse the senatorial candidates of the coalition during the proclamation rally in Cebu yesterday. JOVEN CAGANDE/JONJON VICENCIO

MANILA, Philippines – The race for 12 Senate seats kicked off yesterday with President Aquino pitching for the administration slate in Manila while Vice President Jejomar Binay led the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) in Cebu City.

Aquino personally launched the proclamation rally of “Team PNoy” at Plaza Miranda in Quiapo with the color yellow made prominent by political leaders.

Aquino introduced his 12 handpicked candidates that he said “would bring us to the righteous path.”

He rallied support for the 12 candidates as he spoke of the various anomalies of the previous administration.

“If I may ask you, will you still allow anomalies in the past administration to continue?” Aquino asked the thousands who attended the rally that started at 4 p.m.

Sen. Franklin Drilon, Team PNoy campaign manager, stressed the need of the administration to secure a majority of Senate seats in the midterm elections and ensure that its programs for the last three years would run smoothly and bear fruit.

Drilon said every effort will be made to secure a 12-0 sweep of the elections, with Aquino playing a major role to achieve this.

Drilon said the President will join at least seven of the campaign sorties initially covering the provinces of Laguna, Cavite, Cebu, Iloilo, and Pampanga and the cities of Dumaguete and Cagayan de Oro.

“He has a real investment (in Team PNoy),” Drilon said.

Describing the current Senate as unmanageable, Drilon said the focus of Team PNoy is to follow on the “matuwid na daan” (righteous path) of the President. He said UNA’s path in this elections is still unknown.

On the other hand, UNA secretary-general and Navotas Rep. Tobias Tiangco said the proclamation rally in Cebu “focused on a positive theme and will move away from political mudslinging.”

Tiangco said the Cebu rally highlighted the collective message of how UNA’s senatorial candidates ticket will “make life better for Filipinos.”

When asked why they chose Cebu to kick off the UNA campaign, Binay simply said they are not that choosy or “elitist.” [...]

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LP pitches Senate bets

Drilon: Vote for them to ‘reward’ Aquino

By WENDELL VIGILIA AND JOCELYN MONTEMAYOR
MALAYA

Straight vote sought. President Aquino introduces the 12-man senatorial ticket of Team PNoy at the proclamation rally in Plaza Miranda before a crowd of 6,000. PHOTO BY WEELI CLAMOR

A VOTE for the senatorial candidates of Team PNoy is a show of appreciation for President Aquino’s accomplishments, especially in good governance and the economy.

This was the message relayed yesterday by the Liberal Party-led administration slate as it asked for the votes of some 6,000 persons gathered at the Plaza Miranda in Quiapo, Manila for its proclamation rally.

“It’s time to show support to President Noy!” said Sen. Franklin Drilon, LP vice president and the team’s campaign manager.

Aquino, in endorsing the administration candidates, said among the accomplishments of his administration are enrollment of millions of Filipinos under the universal health program and the solving the classroom backlog. He said his reforms also led to successes like the 6.6 percent economic growth.

He said he needs the candidates of Team PNoy to win so that reforms under his “Tuwid na Daan” would continue to be implemented.

He said other candidates are running only to promote their personal interests and that of the previous administration.

He went on to remind the public of anomalies under the administration of his predecessor, now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo. Among those he listed were the fertilizer scam, the botched national broadband deal, the importation of expensive rice, an anomalous and expensive coffee contract, and the “Hello, Garci” scandal that erupted in 2005.

The President arrived at the rally at about 5 p.m. and received heavy applause from both spectators, candidates and other public officials led by Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim.

The event saw the President standing on the same platform with Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. who was one his rivals in the 2010 presidential race.

Villar’s wife, former Las Piñas Rep. Cynthia Villar (Nacionalista Party), is among the 12 administration senatorial bets.

The Villars also became the center of attention when Cynthia was introduced by fellow candidate, former senator Jamby Madrigal who was at the forefront of attacks against the senator at the height of the C-5 controversy.

All 12 members of the slate were present during the rally, including the three common candidates who are also being endorsed by the rival United Nationalist Alliance – re-electionists Senators Francis Escudero and Loren Legarda, and Grace Poe, daughter of the late action king Fernando Poe Jr., Arroyo’s closest rival in the 2004 presidential race.

The other senatorial candidates of Team PNoy are Aurora Rep. Sonny Angara (LDP), presidential cousin Bam Aquino, ex-senator Ramon Magsaysay Jr., former Akbayan party-list Rep. Risa Hontiveros Baraquel, and Senators Alan Peter Cayetano (Nacionalista), Koko Pimentel, and Antonio Trillanes [...]

Read the full story >>  LP pitches Senate bets