Miriam on Puno's candidacy: Ho-hum

MANILA, Philippines – Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno neither has the money nor the popularity to become a successful vice presidential candidate in the 2010 elections. This was according to Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, a nemesis of Puno since 1992 when she accused him of manipulating the results of that year’s elections which allegedly resulted to her defeat to Fidel V. Ramos. Puno’s candidacy, she said, would only earn “more yawns from the public" even if he teams up with Vice President Noli de Castro, a constant favorite to run for president in various surveys. “Does he [Puno] have the popularity? Apparently he is not even scoring in any survey. Number two, he has a party but will the party spend for him?" Santiago said in a chance interview Wednesday. Puno on Tuesday announced his intention to run for the second highest position in the land next year and hoped that the administration would support him. Santiago likewise belittled a De Castro-Puno tandem to represent the administration in next year’s elections, saying the two “won’t have any money." “Mister De Castro does not have any money of his own, at least not sufficient to run an entire presidential campaign or to attract volunteers who will just act on their own. In the case of Mister Puno, neither does he have these factors working for him," she said. Asked who the man to beat in 2010 is, the feisty lawmaker said nobody because “the country is in the state of electoral chronic fatigue." “There is no excitement, no action. People are not rising up and down or jumping to their feet with elation or exhilaration. Everybody is yawning," she said. “So with Puno’s declaration, more yawns from the public." - GMANews.TV