Manny Villar Playing Too Much Politics
If The Administration’s goal was to divide the opposition, then it may just succeed. The cause of the opposition rift may just lie in the fight for The Senate Presidency, and the man in the middle of it all is Senator Manny Villar.
I have to admit, I’m a fan of Senator Villar, I like his business sense, but his politicking in the past weeks may have just gone too far when he chose to play both sides, trying to solicit support in his bid for the Senate Presidency. When Villar chose to solicit support from Administration candidates, all the while wooing the support of opposition senators, I think he may have shown his selfishness and clear motives with regards to become The Next President of The Philippines.
Although, I don’t think that it matters much in terms of the 2010 elections, apparently Villar has done the calculations and thinks that losing the Senate Presidency will not help him in his 2010 Presidential run.
But, by doing so, he has lost focus on the three years before any sort of election even happens. As I often say, you must dream big, but focus small. The focus should be on the next three years. If Villar is smart, he will stick with his word, and keep the pressure on this current Administration, or else, he may be seen as a flip-flopper when it comes to the issues.
Although, I don’t think the other opposition Senators that have allied themselves with Villar will ever join the Administration, there have been more surprising things that have happened before. Currently, Escudero, Jinggoy, and Allan Cayetano have chosen to support Manny Villar in his bid for the Senate Presidency. Of those three, I don’t thing any of them will turn to the dark side, especially Jinggoy.
Hopefully, the big prize of the 2010 Presidential Elections will not cloud the judgment of our Senators. This includes Manny Villar as well as Ping Lacson. I hope cooler heads will prevail, and that even though, the Senate Presidency is important, it is much more important for them to focus on the Campaign promises that they made. Those promises are that of investigations and more transparency in Government.
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Either Lacson is right or Villar is a Trojan horse all this time. Tsk. Too many egos.
Makes you wonder if a Third Force would have been better.
@Arbet, you’re correct. Either Lacson is overreacting and the moves being made by Villar are solely focused on the task of The Senate Presidency..
OR
Lacson is right, and that Villar may be doing a 180 and focusing on the 2010 election rather than an opposition stronghold…
Either way, these days, it’s hard to put full support on any politician, just because of the amount of flip-flopping that occurs…
@Arbet, I think a third force would’ve been a stretch and could’ve further diluted the opposition. The Administration would come out on top with regards to a third force.
The problem with the opposition is that unlike the Administration who has a clear head, the opposition has too many individuals who want to take the top spot.
I would’ve wished for Osmeña to continue his management of the opposition even after the elections, this way, he could’ve have been the mediator in terms of lacson, Villar, and the appointment of committee chairmans, including the top spot of Senate President.
If Lacson is right, he is successful in flushing out snakes. Or maybe his real motive is to cut Villar’s legs, so to speak; 2010 again.
What’s with Lacson? He seems to divide the opposition. First in 2004, now 2007.
@Arbet,
Lacson definitely has that divisive nature about him. But with regards to the current crisis in electing the Senate President, Villar is going out of the opposition to garner support.
The first plan to convene the opposition and then choose the among themselves who would become Senate President was thrown away when Villar preempted that move and went to the Administration candidates.
Because in all actuality, if the voting is in the opposition alone, I think Pimentel would get the Senate Presidency.
At this point, if there is a rift, the move was made first by Villar.
My worry with Villar’s move is that he has to compromise and give key chairmanship positions to administration candidates, as well as probably giving the Blue Ribbon Committee to “Mr. Noted” Kiko Pangilinan in order to garner support for his bid for The Senate Presidency.
That is the key, because the mandate in the midterm elections was for the opposition to provide more transparency as well as investigate the anomalies in this current administration including the political killings, the 2004 elections, as well as Oakwood.
If these chairmanship positions are given to Administration candidates then, then we will see a blocking in the next three years of the initiatives that the Filipino People gave mandate to in this midterm election.
In 2007 elections, I conducted my research documentation pertaining to violation of election laws, i discovered that of all senatorial candidates whom I considered violators, Manny Villar was the consistent violator of Fair Elections Act. I have readied the petition for disqualification to test the will of the COMELEC to implement the law but wasn’t able to do so because I failed to get a copy of Villar’s COC - as a supporting document - despite formal request.
I think Manny Villar is also good but being violator of law, he doesn’t deserve to be president. To me it’s very important that the president sets the example of obeying the law. Election laws can be said as basic laws and violation of these basic laws could be the basic yardstick in choosing our next president.