Manny Villar has 'solid' Ilocano vote, Singson claims

Ilocos Sur - Former deputy national security adviser Luis ‘Chavit’ Singson dispelled rumors of a divided Ilocos on Thursday, assuring an ‘Ilocano vote’ for Nacionalista Party standard bearer Senator Manuel Villar Jr. “Mayroon [iyong tinatawag na Ilocano vote] (There is a so-called Ilocano vote). The solid north will definitely go for Villar," Singson said on Thursday. “We conducted a survey among the local leaders of the northern alliance, and majority talaga kay Villar.. I am very confident of a Villar victory here." According to Comelec records as of January 2010, Ilocos Sur has a voting population of 385,553 while Ilocos Norte has 361,977 registered voters. However, Singson’s running mate, outgoing Ilocos Sur Governor Deogracias Victor Savellano, has not withdrawn support for administration bet Gilberto Teodoro, Jr. But this has not dented the enthusiasm of Singson, who is running for provincial governor, a position he has occupied for nearly 30 years. All is well with him and Savellano, Singson said. “Hindi ko na sila (Savellano) kinausap. Basta ang sabi ko, kung sino ang susuportahan nila, rerespetuhin ko na lang," Singson said, adding, “Okay naman kami [ni Gov. Savellano], wala namang nagbago." (I did not consult them anymore. All I said was that I would respect whoever they decided to support. Everything is fine between me and Gov. Savellano. Nothing has changed). Singson and Savellano are in-laws, with Singson’s son Ryan having recently married Savellano’s daughter Patricia. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Teodoro stood as principal sponsors to the wedding in February. Singson said that he has not talked with President Arroyo and Teodoro after leaving the party. “Pinagpipilit [ni GMA] si Gibo eh.. Actually hindi na ako nagpaalam [sa Lakas-Kampi-CMD], dahil nga pinipilit..Wala na kaming contact simula noon," Singson said. (GMA is insisting on Gibo. Actually I just left the party without a word, because they were insisting on support for Gibo. I haven’t talked with GMA and Gibo ever since). Villar role in Erap impeachment Asked why he chose to support Villar, Singson cited then-House Speaker Villar’s role in bringing the impeachment case against former President Joseph Estrada to the Senate in 2000. “Number one, siya ang tumulong sa impeachment noon kay Erap..na iakyat iyong kaso sa Senado. Pangalawa, siya lang ang tumatakbong presidente na talagang naghirap. Iyong mga iba sabi-sabi lang nilang para sa mahirap sila, pero hindi naman talaga nila alam ang hirap," Singson said. (Firstly, he helped bring the impeachment case against Erap to the Senate. Secondly, he is the only presidential candidate who has actually experienced being poor. All the others are just claiming to be pro-poor, when in fact they don’t know how it feels to be one). Singson served as the government’s witness in the plunder case against Estrada, who was ousted from the presidency through a popular uprising in 2001. Estrada has since been pardoned by President Arroyo and is also making a political comeback this year. According to Singson, an Estrada victory in May would mean great shame for the country. “Kung sakali, nakakahiya tayong nasyon. Ano na lang ang itsura natin sa international community? Isang taong naconvict of graft and corruption and plunder ang pananalunin." (It would be a great embarrassment for our nation. How would the international community judge us? We would be electing someone who has been convicted of graft and corruption and plunder.) Alliance of Villar, Arroyo a mere gimmick Singson also laughed off the purported ‘Villaroyo’ alliance as mere political gimmick from the Liberal Party, who claimed that Villar was President Arroyo’s secret candidate. “Pakulo lang ng Liberal [party] iyon. Alam nila na hindi gusto ng tao kay GMA kaya pinipilit nilang idikit si Villar. In all fairness to GMA, kina-campaign niya talaga si Gibo," Singson said. (That’s just a gimmick from the Liberal Party. They are taking advantage of GMA’s unpopularity and associating Villar with her. But in all fairness to GMA, she really is campaigning for Gibo). Instead, he criticized the Liberal Party’s pronouncement of taking protests to the streets once elections fail in May. “Iyon nga ang masama diyan eh ‘pag sila natalo, nadaya sila. Parang wala na silang talo eh.. Si Noynoy ‘pag nanalo bilang presidente, maraming presidente. Iyon ang ayaw namin kay Noynoy — maraming nakikialam. Wala siyang sariling desisyon," Singson claimed. (That’s the difficult thing about the LP — if they lose, they think they’ve been cheated. It’s as if they are not capable of losing at all. If Noynoy wins, it’s as if we elected several presidents, because he isn’t capable of making his own decisions.) “Sigurado ‘yan, walang duda, sinisiguro nila si Noynoy [ang mananalo] para madali nilang matanggal, at si Mar Roxas na ang presidente." (There is no doubt that people around Noynoy are ensuring his victory so it would be easy to eventually unseat him, making Mar Roxas president instead). Roxas and Aquino are running mates. Long before the official filing of candidacies for this year’s elections, Roxas has been very vocal about running for the presidency. After Aquino expressed intent to run, Roxas slid to the vice presidential post instead. — with additional inputs by Sophia Dedace/RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV