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By Efren L. Danao, Senior Reporter
A third force called “Reform Coalition” is
now being organized so as not to limit voters to just administration
and opposition candidates in the 2010 elections, Senate Majority
Leader Francis Pangilinan said Sunday.
“This coalition will build a reform
constituency so that public-sector groups for reforms can join hands
with church groups, non-government organizations, civil society and
students,” he told The Manila Times.
Pangilinan would not say if the Reform Coalition
would merely adopt a presidential candidate in 2010 or field its
own. It also was not clear if the coalition would seek accreditation
from the Commission on Elections, or Comelec.
“We haven’t discussed those issues yet,”
the Senator explained.
He said he has been going around the country
trying to cobble up the “Reform Coalition,” and that he has been
receiving an encouraging response.
The Senator identified Pampanga Gov. Ed
Panlilio, Isabela Gov. Grace Padaca, Naga City Mayor Jesse Robredo,
the Movement for Good Governance, some local officials and the Bayan
Muna party-list as among those that are also actively pushing for a
coalition of reformists.
“The victory of Among Ed, Mayor Robredo and
Gov. Padaca showed that people looking for reforms look beyond the
candidates of the traditional political parties,” he said.
He also cited a recent survey on perceived
presidential aspirants by the USAID, the American government’s aid
agency, showing that 45 percent of the respondents picked “none of
the above.” Pangilinan said the survey results were not made
public, but he was shown a copy.
Among those eying the presidency in 2010 are
Vice President Noli de Castro, Senate President Manny Villar Jr.,
Mayor Jejomar Binay of Makati City and Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas
2nd. Even former President Joseph Estrada, who was booted out of
power and later convicted of plunder, said he might run if the
opposition fails to rally behind one candidate for the Palace.
Pangilinan took this to mean that an increasing
number of people are getting disenchanted with political parties as
instruments for reforms. He added that the people’s hopes for
reforms after EDSA 1 and EDSA 2 were all dashed mainly because
leaders and political parties had pursued the politics of
accommodation. EDSA is Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, where
bloodless revolutions ousted the late President Ferdinand Marcos in
1986 and Estrada in 2001.
“Our per capita income has not increased in
the last 20 years,” Pangilinan added. “The issues we were
raising 20 years ago when we were still students are still being
raised by the students today. This means nothing has moved.”
People were seeking guidance and direction from
national leaders that would take the country “out of the mess we
are in,” but got no response, the Senator said.
“If we leave things as they are, I am not
optimistic of genuine reforms after 2010. There will only be a
change in administration but no reforms. The Reform Coalition will
give a message of hope in getting the country out of this mess,”
he said.
Genesis of reform
Pangilinan said the idea of a “Reform
Coalition” was hatched during the 2007 senatorial elections. The
coalition was supposed to be composed of candidates who were neither
opposition nor administration. He identified them as then re-electionists
Villar, Ralph Recto, Joker Arroyo and himself, along with Sonia Roco
and Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino 3rd, with Roxas as campaign manager.
“We were close to making it happen,”
Pangilinan said. “That attempt failed because there was no reform
constituency formed around it. Things will be different in 2010.”
Sen. Arroyo and Recto joined the administration
ticket. Villar was nominally in the opposition ticket, while
Pangilinan campaigned as an independent. Roco and Aquino sided with
the opposition.
After the 2007 elections, Pangilinan rejected
any executive post in the Liberal Party after it identified itself
as opposition.
The Liberals had endorsed the impeachment of
then-President Estrada, Pangilinan said, adding that he did not want
the party to join the group led by the former president.
End personality politics
Pangilinan continues to describe himself as
“independent,” although he officially remains a member of the
Liberal Party.
He said he believes that creating a reform
constituency would end personality-oriented elections in the
country. He added that elections had been personality-oriented
because the political parties had defaulted on their obligations to
the electorate.
“The raising of issues is not the voters’
function but the candidates’, and the candidates’ message had
always been the same—vote for me,” the Senator said.
He also noted that people are no longer being
swayed by huge television advertisements during an election
campaign.
“In 2007, only four of the 12 big spenders
won. Television exposure alone will not make a candidate win,” he
said.
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