Beleaguered Nacionalista Party (NP) standard bearer Senator Manny Villar on Tuesday found himself under fire from his two main rivals for the presidency – Senator Noynoy Aquino and former president Joseph Estrada – after falling further behind in the latest pre-election survey. Aquino, the presidential frontrunner, said Villar has no one to blame but himself for his falling ratings. “He (Villar) has been given many opportunities to answer the issues raised against him. But he did not face these issues squarely. This raised doubts on the minds of the people who feel there's something wrong with the way he's acting,” Aquino told reporters. “Thus he has no one to blame but himself for his woes,” the Liberal Party (LP) standard bearer added. On Monday, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) polling firm announced that Aquino has widened his lead over Villar, his closest rival, as Aquino's ratings went up by 1 point to 38 percent while Villar's ratings dipped by 2 points to 26 percent. Villar's ratings have been falling since February when he was behind by just 2 percentage points to Aquino. The ratings of the NP bet started slipping when reports surfaced of a secret alliance between him and President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. In contrast, Aquino's ratings have been steady at over 35 percent since the Philippines' two main independent pollsters, SWS and Pulse Asia, started surveys on presidential candidates late last year. Estrada joined Aquino in blasting Villar, saying the latter should not have used his own mother to defend himself from allegations that he is corrupt. Estrada was referring to the television interview of Villar's 86-year-old mother, Curita, on Monday wherein she defended her son from critics. In the interview, Villar's mother said she felt helpless after hearing reports that her son is being accused of corruption. “I could not help but cry. My tears would suddenly fall,” she said also on ANC Television. She said her son is a good, honest man who wants nothing more than to serve the poor, adding that their family's own poverty fueled her son's desire to help the poor. However, Estrada said the appearance of Villar's mother on television was a “desperate” move on the part of his political rival. “Why would you let your own parent get involved in this mess? You're just adding to the hurt feelings of your parent who's already very old,” Estrada said. In contrast, Estrada cited his own mother Mary Ejercito whom he shielded from all negative reports about him during his impeachment trial in December 2000. “During my impeachment, my family didn't allow my mother to watch TV. She had little time left to live. Of course, we didn't want to aggravate her condition,” Estrada said. Estrada's mother died at the age of 103 on Jan. 13 last year.
