Electoral mud flies in the Philippines
By Al Labita
MANILA - The race for next year's Philippine presidential poll is heating up
and will boil down to whether early opinion poll popularity translates into
actual votes. For now popularity is on the side of 49-year-old opposition
Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, the only son of the late assassinated
Senator Benigno Aquino Jr and recently deceased democracy icon Corazon Aquino.
Leading rivals, including second running senator Manuel Villar and current
defense minister Gilberto Teodoro, so far seem unperturbed by the surveys, with
their supporters saying it's still too early in the election cycle to gauge the
outcome of the May 2010 polls. Anything can happen anytime that can reverse the
political fortunes of the frontrunner, their supporters say.
Indeed, Aquino, standard-bearer of the opposition Liberal Party, is now the
target of what appears to be a nascent but gathering
smear campaign headlined by charges he has consistently denied. Manila is
currently abuzz with unsubstantiated rumors that the mild-mannered senator may
be autistic, an allegation aimed apparently at raising doubts about whether he
is mentally fit to lead the nation.
Critics in Congress have also linked Aquino to an alleged "sweetheart deal" in
the construction of an expressway, a Japan-funded project that was originally
intended to build a 50.4 kilometer highway linking the Subic and Clark free
ports in the northern Luzon region.
They alleged Aquino, a congressman and House of Representatives deputy speaker
in 2004, lobbied and exerted influence on the government to extend the
expressway to his family-owned 6,400-hectare Hacienda Luisita, a vast sugar
estate in Tarlac province.
As a result, said Congressman Crispin Remulla in a recent privilege speech, the
government was forced to contract more loans from the Japan Bank for
International Cooperation to extend the highway by an additional 43 kilometers.
Remulla, whose family backs the Nacionalista Party's presidential aspirant
Manuel Villar, also denounced as "overpriced" the government's 83 million pesos
(US $1.77 million) right-of-way purchase of 83 hectares of Hacienda Luisita.
Pegged at 100 pesos per square meter, the selling price was more than 10 times
the going rate for similar raw sugar lands in neighboring areas, he claimed.
"This is undoubtedly the most expensive sugar land in the country because,
based on Department of Agrarian Reform records, the highest price it paid for
sugar land was only 14 pesos per [square meter]," he said.
On top of that, the government also had to build a 170 million pesos road
interchange in the middle of the vast sugar estate, raising the project's
overall costs from 21.4 billion pesos to 32.8 billion pesos, he said. The
expressway project was completed early last year.
"There was no need to pass through Luisita, much less build a road interchange
in the middle of nowhere. That interchange leads directly to a private road
owned by the Aquino-Cojuangco family," Remulla said. Aquino's late mother
hailed from the landed Cojuangco family, now a political ally to Arroyo. Aquino
has denied the road project-related allegations.
Contested holdings
But arguably the most contentious issue hounding Aquino's presidential bid is
his family's alleged refusal to distribute Hacienda Luisita lands to farmers,
despite being mandated under the government's land reform program.
In November 2004, thousands of angry farmers launched a series of violent
protests, denouncing the family's "sabotage" of the agrarian reform law,
ironically the cornerstone of the socio-economic development program when
Corazon Aquino took power in 1986. At least seven farmers were killed and
dozens wounded in a clash with police and military personnel guarding the
sprawling sugar estate.
Militants later described the bloody incident as "carnage" and have now vowed
to derail the young Aquino's presidential ambitions. "If we can vote 10 times
against Aquino's opponent in the coming elections, we will do so," they said.
"Luisita is the symbol of the failure of government, from the Aquino regime to
the present, to resolve the agrarian issue that is festering throughout the
country," says Renato Reyes, secretary-general of leftist group Bayan. "Luisita
is just one of the many estates still under big landlord control and where
feudal exploitation remains."
Speaking to reporters, Aquino lamented that the Hacienda Luisita issue was
being "politicized", but said he was exploring ways to resolve it as quickly as
possible.
"I really would not want to engage in a never-ending debate when the
bottom-line refers only to giving the workers what they need and making the
corporation profitable for their welfare," he said. However, he refused to
categorically say that he favored redistributing the land to the farmers.
Aquino said allegations linking him to the expressway scam were part of "black
propaganda" unleashed against his presidential bid by his political rivals.
"The only things they can come out with are half truths and outright lies."
Like Aquino, Senator Villar - a self-made billionaire - is also mired in
controversy. The 23-member Senate investigated him for alleged "unethical
behavior" when he made a so-called double insertion of a 200 million pesos
outlay in the national budget for a right-of-way road project. Some colleagues
in the Senate claimed this was intended to benefit Villar's real estate
projects.
Villar, a rags-to-riches property tycoon, has denied the charges, saying they
were politically motivated to weaken his candidacy. In a surprise twist, 12
senators signed a resolution last week absolving Villar of any culpability in
the "double insertion" case. The Senate, convened as a committee of the whole,
has yet to act on the resolution, which was also signed by Villar.
Among presidential contenders, some note only Villar was invited in September
by ranking United States officials for talks in Washington DC, a sign to some
that the US has taken a particular interest in his presidential bid.
Villar said afterwards that US officials queried him on his views on bilateral
relations, human rights, terrorism, corruption and military ties, particularly
the controversial Visiting Forces Agreement which allows US troops to conduct
military exercises in the Philippines. Asked what motivated the US to invite
him, he said "maybe, they were sizing me up." Villar, 59, ranks second to
Aquino in the presidential surveys.
While scandals have spared former Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro - a
Harvard-trained lawyer, bar top-notcher and licensed pilot - he has his own
battles to fight through his association with Arroyo's scandal-tainted
administration. Teodoro, 45, and Aquino are second cousins and both are nephews
of tycoon Eduardo Cojuangco Jr.
Teodoro, the presidential candidate of the ruling Lakas-Kampi-NUCD-CMD
political party, the country's largest, said that faring poorly in popularity
rating surveys didn't bother him, noting he still has the time to catch up.
"I'm optimistic my ratings will improve in due time," he recently said. In a
generational shift, Arroyo last week handed the party's leadership over to
Teodoro.
Political analysts, however, say the much-vaunted national political machinery
that favors Teodoro is now crumbling and could collapse at anytime. The recent
exodus of Lakas-Kampi followers to other parties has hemorrhaged the ruling
coalition of its political strength. It has already lost 40% of its loyalists
due to defections, which, analysts say, will greatly diminish Teodoro's chances
at the ballot box next year.
Al Labita has worked as a journalist for over 30 years, including as a
regional bureau chief and foreign editor for the Philippine News Agency. He has
worked as a Manila correspondent for several major local publications and wire
agencies in Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and the United Kingdom.
(Copyright 2009 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please
contact us about
sales, syndication and
republishing.)
Head
Office: Unit B, 16/F, Li Dong Building, No. 9 Li Yuen Street East,
Central, Hong Kong Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road,
Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
