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Villar hits Noynoy party’s ‘factories of lies’


ILOILO CITY - Presidential candidate Senator Manny Villar Jr. (Nacionalista Party) on Thursday accused the Noynoy Aquino-led Liberal Party (LP) of setting up "factories of lies" to discredit him. “Yang mga Liberal, araw-araw na lang meron silang mga factory ng kasinungalingan. Palagay ko naman ang mga tao ay matalino at nalalaman naman nila na black propaganda ito," Villar told reporters in a press conference here. (The Liberal Party has been coming up with these factories of lies against me almost on a daily basis. But I know the public is wise enough to realize that these are all black propaganda.) Aquino’s spokesman, Edwin Lacierda, meanwhile, dismissed Villar’s accusation and urged him to face squarely the issues being brought up against him. "Everytime he's asked to answer a charge . . . he says it’s all political, it’s all propaganda," Lacierda told GMANews.TV in a phone interview. "We have not done any mudslinging that's why Senator Aquino wants to debate with him," he said, referring to Aquino's challenge to have a one-on-one debate with Villar. Among the recent accusations thrown at Villar by the LP were his alleged links to members of the powerful Ampatuan clan who are blamed in the grisly massacre of 57 people, including 32 journalists, in Maguindanao province last Nov. 23. The party also accused Villar of being the secret candidate of the administration. But Villar, who is also accused of using his position to benefit from the government’s C-5 road extension project, laughed off the allegations. “Minsan natatawa na lang ako [na] masyadong makulay ang mga isipan ng mga nagba-black propaganda diyan sa Liberal Party (I find it funny how creative the Liberal Party is when it comes to their black propaganda against me)," he said. The NP standard-bearer also belied former Senate President Franklin Drilon’s allegation that his company acquired 12.7 hectares of agricultural land and illegally developed it into a subdivision called Savannah. He maintained that the transaction was aboveboard. Villar is set to conduct an ocular inspection at the Savannah Subdivision with reporters. - with Johanna Camille Sisante/KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV
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