‘Focus on issues,’ Loren dares opponents

NACIONALISTA PARTY VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE LOREN LEGARDA DARED HER OPPONENTS TO BE MEN ENOUGH TO REFRAIN FROM MUDSLINGING AND INSTEAD FOCUS ON THE ISSUES, SUCH AS EL NIÑO, WHICH THREATENS TO CAUSE DROUGHT THAT WOULD CUT THE COUNTRY’S FOOD SUPPLY.
“We need a Villar presidency because we need a builder, not a destroyer,” she told reporters at a press conference on Thursday morning at the Hotel del Rio in Iloilo City. “But his opponent, walang ginawa kundi manira (all he does is malign) – a destroyer.”
As soon as she and running mate Manny Villar set foot in Roxas City on Wednesday, they started getting text messages maligning Villar, she said.
“Wag namang ganun,” she said. “Magpaka-lalake naman sila at pumapatay na sila ng batas na makamahirap tapos walang ginawa kundi magtext. Magtrabaho na lang sila at ilabas ang plataporma [I hope they stop doing that. They should act like men. They already killed laws to benefit the poor, and all they do now is send text messages. They should just work and show their platform.”
Loren was apparently alluding to rivals Nonoy Aquino and Mar Roxas of the Liberal Party, traditional archrival of the NP.
She called them “antipoor and very feudalistic.”
In contrast, she said: “The Villar-Loren team is a builder literally and figuratively. Second, Senator Villar has chosen me because I am a green leader. So a builder and a green leader are good for the country… Tingnan niyo naman, nasa Capiz kami, kayo naman ang saksi kung paano kami tinanggap sa Roxas City [You witnessed how we were welcomed in Roxas City].”
The NP candidates started their Panay island campaign on Wednesday, at the capital of Capiz, where 13 of the 17 incumbent mayors pledged support for their campaign.