Kris Aquino and family to be part of Noynoy sorties

Actress/TV host Kris Aquino, her husband cager James Yap, and their son Baby James will soon be part of the Noynoy Aquino for President roadshow. Noynoy, who is running under the Liberal Party (LP), said Yap agreed to join his sorties after his team, Purefoods, swept Alaska last Wednesday to win the Philippine Basketball Association’s (PBA) Philippines’ Cup series. “Sasama na si James sa mga susunod na lakad. Si Baby James hinahanap ng tao (Yap will join us in our next sorties, but it is Baby James the people are looking for)," Noynoy told reporters in an interview in Dumaguete City. He said Yap would be more visible in the Visayas since he hails from Negros Occidental. He, however, added that they would be more selective in places that Baby James would visit for safety reasons. 4 campaign groups LP campaign manager Butch Abad told GMANews.TV in an interview that Kris, Yap, and Baby James would be part of one of the four groups that are campaigning for Noynoy. Abad said the first group is composed of Noynoy and his runningmate, Sen. Mar Roxas, while the second is the party’s senatorial slate. The third is composed of Noynoy’s relatives and friends, while the fourth includes Abad and other former Cabinet officials supportive of Noynoy's candidacy. “The sisters...will be giving testimonials, they know Noynoy very well, his capacity to be a leader and to be president," said Abad, referring to Ma. Elena “Ballsy" Cruz, Pinky Abellada, Viel Dee, and Kris. “Right now the schedule of the surrogates, including Kris and James, I suppose, is being plotted out by [former Social Welfare Secretary] Dinky Soliman and her group," he added. Abad said he does not know what arrangements Kris has made with her home network ABS-CBN regarding her campaigning for her brother. The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has earlier said celebrities who endorse candidates should resign or go on leave, but the poll body later backtracked, saying it is leaving it to the discretion of the celebrities’ employers. Mobbed Despite the absence of big-name stars in their Dumaguete City sortie, Noynoy and Roxas got a lively welcome from residents. Noynoy relived the rallies of the mid-1980s where supporters cheered his mother, the late President Corazon “Cory" Aquino, who would be catapulted to the presidency in the wake of a peaceful revolt in 1986. Supporters flashed the L-sign, chanted the tandems’ names, and sang “Bayan Ko." Interestingly, the venue of the rally was a freedom park named after Aquino's father, former Sen. Benigno “Ninoy" Aquino Jr., who was assassinated on Aug. 21, 1983. - KBK, GMANews.TV