Villar’s ‘orange’ mall sees red in yellow ribbons

The “orange” camp sees red in the color yellow.

Sen. Rodolfo Biazon Saturday found that out for himself.

The color yellow of his presidential candidate, Liberal Party standard-bearer Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino, was not welcome in a mall owned by Nacionalista Party standard-bearer Sen. Manuel Villar in Muntinlupa City.

A yellow streamer of Aquino’s was displayed in a space Biazon was renting in Metropolis, a mall owned by Villar.

The senator said mall personnel not only took down the yellow streamer bearing the tandem of Aquino and running mate Sen. Mar Roxas, his staff was also kicked out of the premises.

Mall personnel also removed the yellow ribbons and flowers adorning the space of Biazon’s next door neighbor and replaced them with decorations in orange—the campaign color of Villar.

NP still verifying incident

At press time, the Nacionalista Party was in the process of verifying the alleged incident, said the NP secretariat.

“They came like the Gestapo,” said Biazon, former Armed Forces chief of staff, referring to Adolf Hitler’s secret police that used terrorist methods against people suspected of disloyalty during World War II.

Biazon is running for representative in the lone district of Muntinlupa under the LP. His staff has been holding voter’s education and training programs for poll watchers in the rented space in the mall since last week.

‘They kicked us out’

On Saturday, the training program was canceled after mall personnel “kicked us out” of the premises, the senator said.

He said the mall personnel also canceled their space rental contract.

“We paid for the place. They have no business doing that,” said Biazon, adding that he planned to “take action” but he would first consult his son, Rep. Ruffy Biazon, who is running for senator in the LP party.

Apparently, Biazon’s space was not the mall’s only object of attention.

The senator said he was a guest speaker during Saturday’s graduation rites of five Muntinlupa-based day care centers that was held next door to his office in the same mall.

Yellow to orange

Just before he arrived, Biazon said mall personnel came and took down all the yellow ribbons and flowers adorning the stage and replaced them with trimmings in the color orange.

“But not all the decorations were yellow. There were some in green and blue,” the senator said.

Day care center officials were aghast.

Biazon said his heart went out to the teachers who decorated the stage to make it special for the kids.

“They’re acting as if the owner [of the mall] is the president of the republic,” scoffed Biazon, saying that even if Villar was president, his men “had no right to do that.”

source - http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100321-259932/Villars-orange-mall-sees-red-in-yellow-ribbons