Aquino tags Villar volunteers
E-mail traced to wife of ex-Napocor head Delgado
By Philip Tubeza, Nancy C. Carvajal
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:13:00 04/29/2010
Filed Under: Inquirer Politics, Eleksyon 2010, Elections, Benigno Aquino III, Manny Villar
Most Read
Other Most Read Stories x
MANILA, Philippines—The wife of former National Power Corp. (Napocor) president Guido Delgado started the e-mail chain of the first psychiatric
report that cast doubts on the mental fitness of Liberal Party standard-bearer Benigno “Noynoy†Aquino III, the presidential candidate and his party said Wednesday.
Aquino particularly mentioned Joy Delgado, the wife of the former Napocor president, a volunteer of the camp of Nacionalista Party standard-bearer Manuel Villar.
“The wife reportedly started the first e-mail on this issue…So, this is the second time and we are saying that there is already malicious intent. They’re open for legal action,†Aquino said in Calumpit, Bulacan.
He said a mistake that happened once might be forgiven easily. “(But) it looks like this is the second time and it was really malicious. That is wrong and we should not let this pass easily,†he added.
The first report was followed by another, also found to be bogus, which Delgado himself made public on Tuesday.
LP spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said the party had gotten hold of the e-mail showing Joy as the source of the first fake psychiatric report, which was reported in the news on April 8.
“We have this e-mail as early as the date stated and we have kept this under wraps for a long time now. But considering that Guido Delgado maliciously and irresponsibly lent his name to this second fake report as part of their continuing campaign to taint Senator Aquino, we are constrained to release this e-mail,†Lacierda said.
Joy’s e-mail
The e-mail of Delgado’s wife, forwarded by Lacierda to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, showed that she received it from someone. She asked if the signature of Fr. Tito Caluag, who signed the first report, was genuine.
“I got this in the e-mail, just now. I have never been one to forward destructive e-mails unless verified. But looking at Fr. Tito’s signature, as far as I can recall, it does look authentic. Unless of course, somebody did a copy-paste. Can you verify this with him please? I seem to have lost his mobile number,†her e-mail said.
An attachment to the mail was the fake evaluation of Aquino by Caluag.
Bum steer
In Tacloban City on Tuesday night, Aquino said the former Napocor president fell for a bum steer (nakuryente) when he presented a fake psychiatric report that said the former suffered from depression and melancholia in college.
“That’s it. Napocor ha,†Aquino said while laughing when asked if Delgado was given a bum steer.
Aquino said his detractors were getting so desperate that they were willing to believe anything, even unverified reports.
“They might have been set up. But the point is, they’re getting so desperate that they used it,†he told reporters at the Leyte provincial capitol.
Depression, melancholia
Delgado came out with a report on Tuesday showing that Aquino voluntarily sought psychiatric treatment when he was 19 years old while his father was detained at a military camp for political crimes.
The report said Aquino, then taking up Economics at Ateneo de Manila University, was found to be suffering from depression and melancholia.
“The patient has complained of hostility, anger and being openly punitive,†said the report that was purportedly signed by Jesuit priest Jaime Bulatao, a psychology professor at Ateneo.
Bulatao and the Ateneo Department of Psychology that supposedly conducted the test on Aquino declared the report bogus.
Aquino said his critics were even spreading lies that he had a heart ailment or that he was suffering from epilepsy.
Faith in the public
“There’s really no more sense, rhyme or reason. We could have talked about our platforms, if they have one. Maybe they don’t,†he said.
Aquino said his critics might have learned their dirty tricks from Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.
“He was the one who said something like ‘A lie repeated often enough might be [believed by] some [as the] truth,’†he said.
He said his political opponents were coming up with black propaganda “to create doubt [about his mental fitness] but I have faith in the public.â€
Aquino said he never had Bulatao as a professor at Ateneo.
Escudero defends Aquino
Sen. Francis “Chiz†Escudero Wednesday dismissed the allegations that Aquino was mentally unfit to become President.
Escudero said that the second purported psychological exam on Aquino was just part of the mudslinging and character assassination that happen during the election period.
“Maybe they no longer have any other issue against Noynoy. That’s why they’re using this issue. But Noynoy has already addressed it and there is no longer any need to explain this again,†Escudero said in an interview.
He said Aquino could answer all the allegations because these were not true.
Escudero said that in the years that he had worked with Aquino, the senator did not show any disturbing behavior that would have raised concerns about his mental health.
“I would not be helping him and would not have endorsed him if these allegations were true,†he added.
Enrile vouches for Aquino
An unlikely defender of the LP candidate was Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile. Enrile is seeking reelection under former President Joseph Estrada’s Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP).
“Even if I’m from the PMP, let’s be fair with one another. I don’t think you can consider Noynoy mentally deficient, otherwise he would have shown that in his work as a senator of the country,†he said.
Enrile turned the tables on Aquino’s principal accuser, saying Villar could be the one suffering from a “physical problem.â€
“Perhaps, he has atherosclerosis (building up of plaque in the arteries) because he’s been spending a lot of money yet more and more issues have been floating against him. And his ratings are going down. Of course, you will be stressed,†the PMP senatorial candidate said.
Last week, Estrada and Enrile presented documents purportedly showing that Villar had pressured the Securities and Exchange Commission and Philippine Stock Exchange officials into releasing the lock-up shares of his family’s Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc.
The public offering raised some P26 billion, P5 billion of which Villar is now using to fund his campaign, Enrile said. Villar has denied any wrongdoing.
Where there’s fire ...
Where there is smoke, there is fire, said presidential candidate Richard Gordon when sought for comment on Wednesday about the second psychiatric evaluation of Aquino.
Gordon said: “Why does it (the question on Aquino’s mental state) keep coming back?â€
Gordon said he was willing to submit himself to a psychiatric test to show he is fit for the presidency, but he also challenged fellow presidential candidates to submit themselves to drug testing.
In Unisan, Quezon, Estrada told reporters that he had already submitted himself to a psychiatric exam.
“And I think I don’t need [one]. My wife is a psychiatrist. If there’s basis, I’m still willing to submit myself to a psychiatric examination,†said Estrada, a PMP’s presidential candidate.
Stress test, too
Villar and his running mate, Loren Legarda, renewed their call for all presidential and vice presidential candidates to take physical and psychiatric tests.
In separate interviews, they both agreed that the next president and vice president should be physically and mentally fit to accomplish many things in government with much more ease.
Legarda said that besides the “mental and physical stress tests,†the presidential and vice presidential candidates should be willing to “confess their habits—good or bad—to voters.â€
Villar said everyone’s assumption was that candidates for higher office were “ready†to lead the country.
“You will be the commander in chief and it is necessary that we are physically and mentally prepared for the presidency,†he said. With reports from Christian V. Esguerra, Michael Lim Ubac, Edson C. Tandoc Jr. and Norman Bordadora
Linkback:
https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=27302.0
Topic: Aquino Tags Villar Volunteers (Read 759 times)