Edu Manzano camp decries ‘lack of support’ from Lakas

The camp of administration party vice-presidential bet Eduardo Manzano on Wednesday expressed dissatisfaction over Lakas-Kampi-CMD’s “lack of support" for the campaign of the actor-politician. Aurelio “Reli" German, Manzano’s campaign manager, told GMANews.TV that he “feels bad" because of the party’s failure to give its vice-presidential bet the “full support" it promised before the start of the campaign period. “Ang kinakasama ng loob ko ay hindi nafu-fulfill ang todo suporta na pinangako ng partido sa kanya… Napakaliwanag ng usapan noong una na sasagutin ng partido ang lahat ng requirements (What I feel bad about is that the full support promised him by the party was not fulfilled… Our agreement early on was very clear, that the party will provide all the requirements) to run a decent nationwide campaign," he said in a phone interview on Wednesday night. German added that Lakas-Kampi-CMD has not given Manzano’s camp “the amount needed to run an effective, nationwide campaign." “We have not even reached the P50 million legal amount mandated by the law… Akala yata nila tumatakbo lang si Edu bilang alkalde sa isang (Maybe they think Edu is merely running for mayor in some) third class municipality," he said. 'Rare ads' on radio-TV German likewise decried the administration party’s “lack of a central organization structure," which he said was the reason why Manzano has become “the only candidate for a national position without any campaign advertisements." “Wala kaming commercial sa TV. Bihira kaming marinig sa radio. Bihira rin ang aming posters at tarpaulin (We have no TV commercials. We are rarely heard on radio. Our posters and tarpaulins are also rarely seen). This is because of the lack of proper support from the party. Sa lahat na kampanyang nakasama ako, ito ang pinaka-kakaiba (In all the campaigns I’ve joined, this one is truly different)," said German, a well-known PR practitioner who has been involved in political campaigns since the time of the late President Ferdinand Marcos. The campaign manager however said that the lack of support and resources from the party will not make Manzano quit his campaign, amid reports that the vice-presidential aspirant has already backed out from the race. “We will work within what is available, but Edu is very well aware that this is an uphill fight," he said. Manzano, who continues to register lackluster performance in recent preference polls, was chosen by the administration party to be presidential aspirant Gilberto Teodoro Jr.’s running mate after Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno, who was earlier being touted to become Lakas-Kampi-CMD’s vice-presidential bet, abandoned his plans to run for any position in the May polls. (See: Edu Manzano chosen as Gibo's VP in 2010 polls) GMANews.TV tried to get a reaction from the party president, Sarangani Governor Miguel Dominguez, but repeated calls went unanswered. Lakas-Kampi-CMD officials Prospero Pichay and Mitos Magsaysay, meanwhile, declined to comment on the issue, saying they are not privy to how party funds are released. Sufficient funding for Gibo Teodoro’s campaign leaders, on the other hand, said they have been receiving sufficient funding from the administration party, although they also admitted that there have been “delays" in the release of funds. “Talagang (It’s true that) sometimes, as far as funding is concerned, that [a delay] happens. Lakas relies on contributions, and there are times that there are some delays, but the funds arrive at times that we really need them," said lawyer Mike Toledo, Teodoro’s spokesperson. Toledo also clarified that the creation of a media bureau separate from Lakas’ internal public relations machine and exclusive to Teodoro is not an indication of insufficient support from the administration party. He said the two media bureaus work together for Teodoro’s victory. He added that Teodoro’s “flurry of activities" outside Metro Manila is an indication that the administration party bet is getting the funding he needs. “He travels to different places all over the country, and that has a lot of expenses involved. The flurry of activities only indicates that he has the funds to drive this campaign," he said. Teodoro has visited various provinces in northern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao since the start of the campaign period. He has shifted his sorties to Metro Manila this week, hoping to win the national capital’s 5.4 million votes. (See: Gibo woos vote-rich Metro Manila) Teodoro attended on Wednesday the birthday celebration of his wife, Tarlac Rep. Monica Prieto, which the couple held together with children in an urban poor community at the Batasan Park in Quezon City.—JV, GMANews.TV