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By Francis Earl A. Cueto, Reporter
THE Genuine Opposition (GO) said
on Monday that it may not be getting enough funds from the business
sector, but that does not mean that businessmen are not supportive.
Adel Tamano, spokesman for GO,
said majority of the businessmen were holding back because they fear
their companies could face reprisals from the administration.
“We have a lot of businessmen
who have expressed their support for the opposition but as far as
giving campaign contributions, it is a big problem. They fear that
if word goes out to the administration they may suffer a
backlash,” Tamano said.
He admitted that several GO
senatorial candidates had already dipped into their own pockets to
be able to mount campaign sorties.
Earlier, GO’s interim campaign
manager, Mayor Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito of San Juan, admitted
that the opposition was short on funds.
He likened the opposition to a
jeepney racing against a sport car that is the Team Unity, which he
said enjoys practically limitless funding from the government.
Tamano, however, disputed the
statements of Team Unity candidate Edgardo Angara that the failure
of opposition candidates to draw crowds in their rallies is a sign
that their “platform of negativism” was not getting any public
support.
He said the scouts for the
administration coalition should have seen the GO’s recent rally in
Batangas, which drew more than 3,000 supporters.
GO canceled rallies in Dagupan
City, Calamba City, Iloilo City and Antique were canceled, citing
a variety of reasons from security to conflicts with local
partymates.
Dwelling on the proposed
candidates’ debate, Tamano said that while the proposal of
businessmen to host the face-off is welcome, GO may consider other
offers which do not call for a specific topic.
He said that the coalition has
received other offers including that of the Harvard Alumni Group and
the University of the Philippines.
He said the two groups offered to
host a freewheeling debate with the topic not limited to economics.
Francis Chua, president of the
Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry
Inc., said the business groups were eager to sponsor the debate
because they wanted to get know the stand of the candidates on key
issues, particularly those affecting the economy.
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