Villar: My failure to answer allegations caused drop in surveys

BANGUI, Ilocos Norte—Nacionalista Party standard bearer Senator Manuel Villar Jr. on Tuesday admitted that his failure to answer the allegations hurled against him affected his performance in recent surveys about the electorate’s presidential preferences. In a press conference here after visiting the power-generating windmills that now serve as the landmark of this far-northern Ilocos Norte town, Villar said he was “too kind" with his critics. "Yung black propaganda na hindi totoo, naging masyado kaming mabait (We’ve been too kind in handling that false kind of black propaganda)," he said. Villar said he was saddened with the result of the recent Pulse Asia survey, which showed him 12 percentage points behind Liberal Party presidential bet Sen. Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III. The NP bet said his party had known the result of the survey as early as last week and they had already made adjustments in their campaign strategy. “Nagsilbing hamon sa amin ang ganyan. Sanay na tayo. Nag-adjust na kami kaya tingnan niyo na lang sa mga susunod na survey (It served as a challenge to us. We’re used to that. We’ve made adjustments, so just watch how the next surveys will turn out)," Villar said. Asked on the adjustment they made, Villar refused to go into specifics but promised that he would dwell on issues thrown against him. "Mas magpapaliwanag na kami sa isyu." He even dared Aquino to show evidence about allegations that Villar is President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's secret candidate. At least one political analyst has theorized that Villar’s reported alliance with President Arroyo may have hurt his recent survey ratings. (See: ‘Villarroyo’ blamed for Villar rating drop) "Sila ang nag-aakusa, sila ang dapat maglabas ng ebidensya. Ngayon hinahamon ko na sila. Nakita ko na siya ang maraming kamag-anak sa Malacañang (They are the accusers, let them come up with evidence. Now I’m challenging them. I see it’s him [Aquino] who has a lot of relatives in Malacañang)," he said. Meanwhile, Villar refused to comment when asked if he sees deposed leader Joseph Estrada as a threat. "Isa-isa lang ang kalaban, baka dumami pa eh (I’ll take on my opponents one at a time, I don’t want my enemies to multiply)." Estrada has been consistently placing third in recent presidential preference surveys, some 10 percentage points behind Villar.—JV, GMANews.TV