‘CEO’ versus ‘saint’ in Philippines vote

‘CEO’ versus ‘saint’ in Philippines vote

By Roel Landingin and David Pilling

Originally published at the FINANCIAL TIMES.

Standing on 6,000 square metres of prime urban property beside an exclusive golf club, the three-storey mansion is an architectural reminder of the luxurious lifestyle of postwar Filipino elites. Built more than half a century ago by the war-time president, its high ceiling, large receiving room and half a dozen bedrooms add to the building’s monied feel.

The grand mansion serves as the headquarters of Senator Manuel Villar, a self-made housing magnate who is waging what he says is an epic campaign for the presidency against scions of the country’s traditional elite.

 “The presidential and vice-presidential candidates of the other party [belong] to the landed and wealthiest families,” he says in an interview, referring to Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and his running mate Mar Roxas. “They are typical haciendero or cacique types,” he adds, using the Spanish-derived terms for landed gentry.

Mr Villar says he is fighting an uphill battle against not only a representative of an entrenched oligarchy, but someone with an almost hallowed image. Mr Aquino is the only son of democracy icon Corazon Aquino, who led the 1986 “Yellow Revolution” that toppled the Marcos dictatorship after her husband, Benigno Aquino Jr, was assassinated.

“You are up against a saint. He’s saying he’s not tainted and perfect. I say only God is like that,” says Mr Villar.

At one point last year, polls had made Mr Villar the favourite to win the presidency in national elections on May 10. That was before Mr Aquino announced he was running after the death of his mother. Swept on a tide of sympathy for the former president, still idolised as the “housewife” who overthrew a dictator, Mr Aquino quickly overtook his rival... READ MORE at the FINANCIAL TIMES 

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