After ‘Villar’ incident, Noynoy not keen on letting Baby James campaign

After an incident where his biggest little endorser mentioned his chief rival’s name at a rally, Sen. Benigno Simeon “Noynoy" Aquino III is no longer keen on having two-year-old nephew Baby James Aquino-Yap go out and campaign for him. While Aquino downplayed Tuesday night Baby James' mention of his rival Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. at a rally in Bacolod, he insisted the reason for his stand was Baby James’ safety. “Nakikita ninyo kung paano ako pinapakitaan ng salubong ng ating kababayan. Ang pamangkin ko medyo payat at maliit, pag nagalusan tayo paano na man siya? Ako di sangayon isabak sa init ng klima at baka ... Si Joshua pwede pa yan (You can see how warm people welcome me, but my nephew is so small and frail, he may be hurt. If I can get scratched during my campaigns, how much more Baby James? Besides, the weather is hot. I think my elder nephew Joshua can better join me)," he told reporters in Baclaran.

He sought to explain Baby James’ mention of Villar’s name at a recent rally as part of the “Terrible Two" stage, where he said a two-year-old tends to be naughty or repeat what he sees or hears. Baby James, son of Sen. Aquino’s sister Kris and basketball superstar James Carlos Yap, had been a big hit with crowds in drumming up support for Aquino. “Pag lampas siguro mahina siguro ilang libong beses paulit sa kanya kung minsan naughty talaga. Pag may gusto ka pagawa sabi mo huwag gawin, yan ang gagawin niya. Pag 2 years old yan ang tinatawag na terrible two. Pero yung sinabi niya sa commercial, sa totoo lang, ginagawa niya pag pinapanood niya at nakita tayo sa TV bago ginawa ang commercial (At a certain time when he is saturated with so many commercials he tends to repeat them)," Aquino said. — LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV