Villar starts Mindanao courtship Tuesday

Nacionalista Party (NP) standard-bearer Manny Villar seeks to widen his five-point lead over Liberal Party (LP) presidential bet Noynoy Aquino in Mindanao by bringing "peace, power and progress" vision for resource-rich island in a bristling five-day eight-province, 10 city swing in the Davao and Caraga regions that will be kicked off with a huge Surigao City rally today.

"We will begin our Mindanao courtship," said Villar.

Villar will not only share his vision for 23 million Mindanaonons but his sortie will be some sort of a listening tour as well. Unlike others who preach without knowing, he will be there to hear out and listen.

Villar said his conversation with Mindanaonons starts this week. Veering away from traditional rallies, Villar's eastern Mindanao barnstorm will include morning to midnight town hall type encounters and dialogues with civil society.

As a problem solver, it is not his style to parachute into a territory and blurt out his prescriptions. He believes local problems are at best solved with local inputs and participation.

Villar has a Mindanao plan that will be set into motion in the first 100 days of his administration but wants this enriched by inputs from people on the ground.