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THE opposition ranks are in disarray. This is obvious
from the January 15 letter sent by former senator Francisco Tatad to
former President Estrada recounting the January 1 meeting of
opposition leaders. I run Kit’s letter in two parts. The first
part:
“The meeting followed no set
agenda or structure. Tito Sotto had much to say about his group that
he believed should be on the UNO ticket. This included:
1. Tessie Aquino-Oreta, who did
not seek reelection after her first term ended in 2001;
2. Sonny Osmeña, who ran
unsuccessfully on the administration ticket in 2004;
3. Greg Honasan, who is now under
detention on charges of rebellion following his highly publicized
capture in Quezon City;
4. Loren Legarda, who wants to go
back to the Senate at the cost of her vice-presidential protest
against Noli de Castro; and
5. Tito Sotto himself, who is
back on entertainment TV in preparation for the campaign.
“It was the first time I heard
of this group earnestly wanting to run under the opposition. Last
year, they sent Johnny Rojas to represent them in our UNO meetings.
From him we learned that they had been preparing to run, but that
they would rather stay “somewhere in the middle,” than identify
themselves openly with the opposition. Many of us (notably Jojo
Binay) were particularly anxious about that statement. So I listened
to Tito with undivided attention.
“Tito and Chiz Escudero
provided most of the conversation, with Ernie Maceda occasionally
interjecting. Mention was made of:
1. Ping Lacson, who has abandoned
his earlier decision to run for mayor of Manila and decided instead
to seek reelection;
2. Ed Angara, who was reported to
be putting up a “unity ticket,” but in whose behalf Loren
Legarda had reportedly telephoned the President for possible
inclusion in the opposition lineup;
3. Manny Villar and his group,
which includes Joker Arroyo, Ralph Recto and Kiko Pangilinan;
4. Drilon’s Liberal Party,
which was reported to be pushing for Noynoy Aquino’s inclusion in
the UNO slate.
“No one opposed Lacson’s
reentry, but no one pushed for Angara’s inclusion. There was not
much information about Villar’s group—not even Jojo Binay could
say whether or not his friend Joker was running again. The President
said he expected to meet shortly with Villar. Upon mention of Noynoy
Aquino’s name, Tito Sotto promptly cut in to say that between
Noynoy and his auntie, Tessie Aquino-Oreta, the latter would have
better chances of winning. Fred Lim disagreed, saying that if Noynoy
ran, his sister Kris Aquino, who is a TV host, would certainly
ensure his winning.
“I made two short
interventions.
“1) I proposed that UNO set
some criteria or standards before admitting anyone who wants to ride
the opposition bandwagon. Some of these people had junked the
President without ceremony to support Mrs. Arroyo in 2001 and 2004;
now they want UNO to give them a ride because it seems no longer
profitable to be identified with Mrs. Arroyo, although they have not
openly abandoned her. They want to collect on every throw of the
dice even after they’ve lost the game. And we seem so eager to
provide the revolving door for their crass opportunism. Has it never
occurred to us that UNO, rather than Ed Angara whom UNO has excluded
from its lineup, could end up putting together the “UNITY
TICKET” that combines the best and the worst administration and
opposition personalities?
“2) With great pain, I
expressed some reservations about drafting Koko Pi-mentel, Alan
Peter Cayetano and J.V. Ejercito as UNO candidates while Koko’s
father—Senate Minority Leader Nene Pimentel, Alan Peter’s
sister—Sen. Pia Cayetano, and J.V. Ejercito’s half
brother—Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, are sitting in the Senate until
2010. I just could not accept the idea of such bright young men
doing what the “trapo to end all trapos” would probably not do,
and for the Senate, with all its absurdities, to end up as a mad and
shallow “Family Ball.” Where Malacañang failed, UNO just might
succeed—we would abolish the Senate’s reason for being.”
E-mail lopez_biznewsasia@yahoo.com
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