The Wutz Up in the Philippines!

Using power barges is the “only viable solution so far” to the energy crisis in Mindanao caused by a dry spell spawned by El Niño, one of the co-chairs of the Joint Congressional Power Commission (JCPC) said Monday.

Letting go of Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes and repealing the law deregulating the power sector could also help address the country’s power shortage, said Satur Ocampo, a guest senatorial candidate of the Nacionalista Party.

Sen. Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan, JCPC co-chair, said power barges, including those used in the Beijing Olympics, could be tapped to supply power to brownout-stricken areas in the country, particularly in Mindanao where the power deficit reached 183 megawatts (MW).

“The only viable solution so far that has been presented has been the power-barge solution,” Honasan said after the JCPC held a hearing on the energy crisis Monday morning.

“We are getting a better view of the availability and capacity of power barges, including the power barges used in Beijing Olympics that are now in Australia,” he added.

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A one-on-one debate between the two frontrunners in presidential preference surveys is now in the works, with both standard-bearers of the Nacionalista Party (NP) and the Liberal Party (LP) issuing statements that they are ready for a duel of ideas.

In a statement issued Tuesday afternoon, LP’s Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III called for a meeting between his camp and that of NP’s Senator Manuel Villar Jr. after the latter accepted Aquino’s challenge for the two to engage in a one-on-one debate.

“I think it’s time to end the proxy war. This would give Sen. Villar a chance to do what he wasn’t able to do on the Senate floor: take direct questions regarding the Senate’s findings on the C-5 deal and other issues that have remained unanswered by him,” Aquino said, adding that he would also take the opportunity to shed light on allegations thrown by some Villar supporters regarding the Cojuangco-owned Hacienda Luisita.

Aquino said the meeting between his camp and Villar’s will discuss the venue, date, format, and other details of their impending debate.

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The specter of an “electronic Garci” was raised in a forum on Monday in which six of seven presidential candidates feared there would be glitches in the automated elections in May and some suggested going manual as an option.

Only Sen. Richard Gordon was confident the Commission on Elections (Comelec) would do its job.

But even the administration standard-bearer, Gilbert Teodoro Jr., decried “big logistical difficulties” in the Comelec’s implementation of the first nationwide computerized balloting.

Other presidential candidates present in the debate were Senators Benigno Aquino III and Jamby Madrigal, environmentalist Nicanor Perlas, evangelist Bro. Eddie Villanueva and Councilor JC de los Reyes.

Sen. Manuel Villar, standard-bearer of the Nacionalista Party, and former President Joseph Estrada were invited but failed to attend due to other engagements.

Perlas proposed a manual-count option in a hybrid balloting, noting that even Germany and the Netherlands scrapped automated elections last year after finding out that a high school student could hack the voting machines.

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MANILA, Philippines - Nacionalista Party (NP) president and standard-bearer Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. said the party will nominate its own candidate for House speaker in the next Congress to challenge President Arroyo, in case she is elected congresswoman and aspires for the speakership.

“The (Nacionalista) Party would choose its speaker and hindi naman miembro ng party namin si Presidente (and the President is not a member of our party),” Villar told The STAR editors and columnists gathered for the start of the paper’s presidential series yesterday. “I am not saying that we are going to win. I am just saying that we are going to nominate (a speaker).”

Villar has rebuilt the NP from scratch and steered it to its status as one of the most formidable political parties in the country today, boasting of hundreds of local leaders in its roster.

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CALAMBA, Laguna - Nacionalista Party standard bearer Manny Villar said on their rally that his wealth is the fruit of his labor, after critics who tried to  impute malice about his rise from poverty.

“Marami ang pilit (na) sumisira sa aking pangalan. Sabi nila’y ako ay masyado daw mayaman. Saan daw galing ang yaman ko? Pilit nilang nilalagyan ng malisya ang pag-ahon ko mula sa kahirapan. Magpapayaman pa daw ako pag nanalo. Babawiin ko daw ang ginagastos ko sa kampanya,” Villar told supporters at the NP rally at the town plaza.

Villar said he would have rather be a businessman if he wants to enrich himself, instead of joining politics.

“Mahirap bang isipin at sikmurain na ang isang dating mahirap ay naghahangad mangarap sa pagkapangulo? Di ba pwedeng umahon at mangarap ang tulad naming galing sa hirap? Dahil ba galling ako sa hirap kaya ako hinuhusgahan?” he said.

They started their campaign here, birthplace of country’s national hero Jose Rizal, to remind people that the freedom Jose Rizal had fought for is being obliterated by extreme poverty.

Present at the rally were MIriam Defensor-Santiago, Pia Cayetano, Susan Ople, Liza Maza, Bongbong Marcos, Gwen Pimentel, Adel Tamano, Martin Querubin representing his detained father Col. Ariel Querubin, Ssatur Ocampo and Gilber Remulla. Among showbiz personalities present were Wowowee host Willie Revillame, Edgar Mortiz and Raymond Gutierrez.

At least 6,000 people at the plaza were estimated by NP Officials.

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MANILA (Reuters) – The Oxford-educated son of the Philippines’ former dictator Ferdinand Marcos wants to follow the footsteps of his namesake father by winning a seat in the upper house of Congress in May as a first step toward the presidency.

“If we succeed in what we are doing now, it wouldn’t be bad to be president. The presidency would be a good cap to one’s political career,” Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr told foreign correspondents in Manila.

The 52-year-old congressman from the northern Ilocos Norte province, his father’s bailiwick, recently launched his second attempt to run for senator. He lost in the 1995 polls, claiming he was cheated of a seat in the 24-member Senate.

His father started his career in the post-war Philippines as a congressman, then was a senator before becoming the country’s longest serving president. Marcos ruled as a dictator in the last 14 of his 20-year rule and was ousted in 1986 by an army-backed popular revolt.

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Team-up finalized at Sunday dinner

MANILA, Philippines—It was a victorious day for two Mannys.

On the day Manny Pacquiao made history as the only fighter to dominate seven world boxing divisions, Sen. Manuel “Manny” Villar Jr. quietly captured the heart of a woman he wanted to be his vice presidential running mate.

At a private dinner in Makati City on Sunday, Sen. Loren Legarda said yes to the standard-bearer of the Nacionalista Party (NP), who was with his spouse Cynthia, the representative of Las Piñas City.

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Sen. Manuel "Manny" Villar

MANILA - Sen. Manuel “Manny” Villar is in the “final stages” of selecting his running mate for his presidential bid in 2010.

In an interview with Ricky Carandang on ANC’s The Big Picture, Villar said that he has already chosen “in his mind” who his running mate will be.

“Well sa mind ko… Meron naman na akong napili na. Ito naman ay hindi ko pa puwede sabihin,” Villar said in the interview, aired on Thursday.

He also said that their talks with the potential vice-presidential bet are already in the final stages.

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NP spokesman and former Cavite Rep. Gilbert C. Remulla in a telephone interview said they will release to the public by the middle of the year its complete list of candidates who will be joining the electoral race in 2010.

He said Mr. Villar is to be the party’s standard-bearer, but that they have not yet chosen who will run for Vice-President.

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