No apology from Noli for outburst in Laguna visit

“Bakit ako magso-sorry? Sila ang dapat mag-sorry (Why should I say sorry? They should be the ones apologizing)." This was Vice President Noli de Castro’s response to calls for him to apologize for his “outburst" against militants and members of the urban poor sector who interrupted his speech in Los Baños town in Laguna province last Thursday. “Dapat sila ang mag-sorry dahil binastos nila ako. Nag-drive ako ng 2.5 hours para pumunta sa Los Baños then pagdating ko doon, babastusin nila ako (It’s they who should apologize for being rude to me. I didn’t drive for two-and-one-half hours to Los Baňos to be insulted)," De Castro said over his Saturday radio program Para sa Iyo Bayan. De Castro drove to Laguna to award land titles to beneficiaries of the government’s housing program on Thursday. In the middle of his speech, he was interrupted by members of the Kalipunang Damayan ng Mahihirap (Kadamay), who were protesting against what they claimed were “anti-poor" government programs like the South Rail Project. The protesters expressed concern that tens of thousands of residents would be evicted from their homes when the 423-kilometer railway line from Calamba, Laguna to Legazpi City in Albay undergoes a reconstruction as part of the two-phase project. De Castro went on with his speech but took a swipe at the rallying militants, saying: “Sana nilapitan na lang ako. Baka kulang lang … KSP… kulang sa pansin (They could have just approached me instead of launching a rally. Maybe they are just insecure people)." Lazybones After lashing out at the militants, De Castro also slammed poor beneficiaries who had either failed to pay their housing loans or were accused of abusing the government's housing program. Asked by reporters on what he thought was the reason why beneficiaries failed to pay for their loans, “Baka mga tamad sila. Sabihin niyo sa kanila, mga tamad sila. Hindi sila puwedeng hindi magbabayad. Sisingilin ko sila. Paaalisin ko kapag hindi nagbayad kahit sino pa kayo." (Maybe they are lazy. Tell them they are lazy. They should pay their loans. I will demand their payment or else I will drive them away, no matter who they are) In his radio program, De Castro turned the tables against Kadamay and challenged the group to apologize to him instead because he felt insulted not just as vice president of the Philippines but simply as a human being. He warned unscrupulous people to learn how to earn one's keep instead of taking advantage of the government's housing projects. “Wala ho akong igagalang sa inyo kapag kayo ay umaabuso sa programa ng gobyerno (You can’t earn my respect if you abuse government programs)," De Castro said. “Habang nasa gobyerno ako o kahit wala na ako sa gobyerno ang umaabuso sa programa ng gobyerno ay hindi po makakaligtas sa akin (While I’m in office or even after I leave office, I well catch those abusing government programs)," he said. No ‘Kabayan’ vote from us Kadamay spokesperson Bea Arellano came to the defense of the beneficiaries and said they were unable to make payments not due to laziness but because of widespread unemployment in the country. “Hindi kami nagpapansin kundi kailangan lang naming isiwalat ang aming nararamdaman at ang aming kaapihan. Hindi tamad ang mga tao (We are not trying to get his attention. We just want to air our sentiment that we are being neglected. Poor Filipinos are not lazy)," Arellano said, adding that disadvantaged people were even willing to take up any job just to serve food on their tables. If ever De Castro runs for another elective post in the 2010 polls, Arellano said in a GMA News interview that the vice president should no longer expect support from the poor. “Totoo bang kabayan iyan? Kontra makabayan iyan … Wala iyang maasahan at ikakampanya naming iyan (Is he really our ally? He is against the people. We will not vote for him and we will campaign for his boycott in the polls)," she said. ’How low can you go?’ Labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) backed Kadamay in denouncing De Castro’s outburst saying it was ironic that De Castro started his public career as a voice for the poor, only to become a voice against the poor. "Capitalizing on being a popular TV anchor before, he started out his political career by projecting himself as the voice of the people, 'boses ng bayan.' He then went on to become the voice of the Arroyo regime. Now, this. It seems working for the anti-poor Arroyo regime, with the likes of demolition king Bayani Fernando, for nine years, has finally rubbed off on him. He is destroying what little electoral chances he still has," KMU Chairman Elmer Labog said in a statement on the KMU website. Labog criticized De Castro for threatening the urban poor with eviction. "How low can you go? Why threaten the urban poor with eviction? Such a threat can only show how insensitive Kabayan is when it comes to the plight of our urban poor kababayans," said Labog. "After migrating to the cities to look for a job and finding none, our urban poor kababayans have always faced threats of demolitions. For them to hear this threat from the country’s vice president just because he lost his cool over some media attention – that is just too much. The workers and urban poor will not forget this," he said. Labog also said many people thought that De Castro could have lost his composure because media people kept bugging him about his plans for the 2010 elections. De Castro remains mum on his political plans. He ran as guest candidate of President Gloria Arroyo's party in the 2004 polls. He skipped Lakas-Kampi-CMD's party's recent selection process for standard bearer in the 2010 polls. [See: VP Noli not running under Lakas in 2010] "He should have spoken of his plans by now. Indecision is not something people look for in a president. Second, why vent your anger on the urban poor? Just because the urban poor doesn’t seem as powerful as the media, doesn’t mean they don’t remember tirades such as de Castro’s and that they’re not important in elections," Labog said. – GMANews.TV