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Gibo brushes aside cousin's remarks, welcomes approval from Villar's wife


Administration party standard-bearer Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on Friday brushed aside comments made by cousin Lisa Cojuangco-Cruz, who accused him of being ungrateful to his father, business tycoon Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco Jr. Teodoro said his cousin's remarks have nothing to do with his presidential campaign and with the lives of Filipinos "This does not have any effect sa buhay ni Juan dela Cruz. Walang epekto 'yan sa plataporma de gobyerno o performance. Kaya iyan ay hindi dapat issue sa isang presidential election, and I am not going to go down to that level," he told reporters after speaking in the Chamber of Thrift Banks (CTB) National Convention in Makati City on Friday. Teodoro also maintained that issues between him and his family should not meddle with politics. "This is beyond me already. Republika ng Pilipinas ang pinag-uusapan dito. Bansa ang pinag-uusapan dito. Hindi iisang pamilya. Hindi ang pakiramdam ng isang tao. Unless ang pakiramdam mo, ikaw ang may-ari ng bansa. Hindi naman siguro ganoon ang context noon," he said. (What’s at stake here is the Republic of the Philippines. We’re talking about a country here. Not just one family nor just the feelings of one person. Unless that person feels that he owns the country. I’m pretty sure that that’s not the case.) "Kung pag-usapan n'yo 'yan, ibig sabihin, ang usaping pampamilya, may epekto sa Filipino people, at wala. Walang epekto. Walang iisang pamilya na nagmemay-ari ng Pilipinas," he added. (If we talk about that, it means that discussions among families have an effect on the Filipino people but there’s none. No effect. No one single family owns the Philippines.) Lisa Cojuangco-Cruz said in a television interview that she was "very hurt" when Teodoro left the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC) which his father founded in 1992. She said the administration party bet became "big headed" despite being given the "privileges that even [Danding's] children did not even try. Cojuangco-Cruz is currently campaigning for Liberal Party bet Senator Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III, her second cousin. Cojuangco-Cruz's mother, Gretchen Cojuangco, also said earlier that her husband, Danding, will support "anybody but Gibo" in the upcoming polls. Danding Cojuangco is one of the most influential kingmakers and business tycoons in the country. He is the current chair of San Miguel Corporation, the Philippines' largest food and beverage conglomerate. Ownership of a twenty-four percent stake — which has been whittled down from 27 percent owing to various transactions — in San Miguel is currently embroiled in a dispute that is more than two decades old. During martial law, Danding reportedly used funds collected from coconut farmers — known as the coco levy fund — to purchase 27 percent of San Miguel Corp. Immediately after EDSA I, the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) — an agency tasked to go after ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses’ and their cronies — claimed that the same SMC stake is owned by the coconut farmers. In various decisions, the Supreme Court and the Sandiganbayan, the Philippines’ anti-graft court, have said that coconut levy funds are beneficially owned by coconut farmers. But no order has yet been made to transmit ownership to the farmers and their heirs. Moreover, the disputed SMC common shares have been converted to preferred, a move that will make farmers lose their claim over the stake. In 1992, Danding set up the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC) and ran as its standard bearer. He lost to Fidel V. Ramos but remains the NPC's chairman emeritus. Teodoro was formerly a member of the NPC and reportedly Danding’s most favored nephew, but switched to the administration party and later became its standard-bearer for the May polls. The Lakas-Kampi-CMD standard-bearer has consistently kept mum about his issues with his uncle Danding, saying that Filipinos should focus on his platforms and not on his relationships with his relatives. A step forward While brushing aside his cousin's negative remarks, Teodoro meanwhile welcomed statements made by Las Pinas Rep. Cynthia Villar, who said she would vote for the administration party bet if her husband, Nacionalista Party standard-bearer Sen. Manuel Villar Jr., was not running for the May polls. In the same CTB forum, Teodoro said that all positive statements made regarding him during the campaign period will be a "step forward," since he is "running a positive campaign." "Any positive statements right now in a highly-charged political atmosphere is a step forward. That's something that we need," he said when asked about his reaction on Rep. Villar's statements. "I just take everything as positive. I am running a positive campaign. I am not criticizing anybody and I do not believe in throwing mud," he added. Rep. Villar said in an interview over ANC that she will support Teodoro if her husband was not a candidate in the presidential race since the administration party bet is "better than the others." Both Sen. Villar and Teodoro have been associated with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during the campaign period. Teodoro is the standard-bearer of the Arroyo-chaired Lakas-Kampi-CMD party, while Villar had been accused of being Mrs. Arroyo's "secret candidate." - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV

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