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By Francis Earl A. Cueto, Reporter
A forum for senatorial candidates
deteriorated Wednesday into a heckling match between rivals from the
Genuine Opposition and the administration’s Team Unity.
The weekly Ciudad Fernandina
Forum in Greenhills, San Juan, became the arena for GO campaign
manager and San Juan Mayor Joseph Victor Ejercito, spokesman Adel
Tamano and Sonny de Vera, who represented detained GO candidate Lt.
Antonio Trillanes, who went head-to-head with Team Unity deputy
spokesman Tonypet Albano and candidate Prospero Pichay.
The affair turned out to be more
colorful than the debate-turned-forum attended by GO’s Sonia Roco
and Nikki Coseteng and Team Unity’s Luis “Chavit” Singson,
Mike Defensor and Pichay, organized by the Philippine Chamber of
Commerce and Industries last week.
Outside the forum venue,
policemen and SWAT members and ambulances stood by in case the scene
got more rowdy.
As members of one side tried to
present their platform, their rivals reacted by laughing, making
gestures or making noises.
It was all too much for Pichay,
who left ahead of the others, claiming he had other engagements to
attend.
It was Pichay, however, who
started the ball rolling when he reacted to the statement of
Ejercito who said that GO candidates are being mobbed during
campaign sorties.
“Actually, I’m thinking of
shifting my political career into a movie career because I am being
mobbed,” Pichay interjected in the middle of Ejercito’s speech.
Then it was Tamano’s turn to
sling mud. He said “tuta” or puppy, stood for Team Unity, Team
Arroyo.
“We don’t call you Erap’s
tuta,” Pichay said, referring to former President Joseph Estrada.
The exchange heated up when the
GO panelists hammered on the issues regarding the economy, poverty,
the legitimacy of the Arroyo presidency, and extrajudicial killings.
The administration candidates countered that the opposition was only
after the impeachment of President Arroyo.
Albano joined the fray, hurling
the blame for widespread poverty and hunger at the opposition.
“Our situation already improved
in terms of social payback but it was halted because of mudslinging
by the opposition,” Albano said.
Tamano countered that poverty and
hunger are realities that need to be addressed immediately.
“It’s the people who are telling us since it is them who are
experiencing hunger. It is not right to pin the blame on the
opposition,” he said.
The verbal muscling continued
through other issues that ranged from the arrest of Bayan Muna Rep.
Satur Ocampo and unemployment.
Before the forum ended, however,
the guests shook hands in a sporting gesture. Ejercito ribbed Albano:
“Sabi ko na sa’yo iwan mo na si ninang [I’m telling you, leave
your godmother],” referring to President Arroyo.
“Sabi ko rin sa’yo sumama na
kayo kay ninang [And I’m telling, join our godmother],” Albano
shot back.
Before he made his exit, Pichay
remarked, “I have to go, but it does not mean I am joining GO.”
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