Beware of the "Third Farce" party

I already knew the "Third Force" concept being proposed by Sen. Noted and Ralph Recto was a bad idea even before reading this Lito Banayo article.

All I can say at this point is NO TO THIRD FORCE. A third force concept may be nice at some other time, but not this election.

Two re-electionist senators, I am reliably told, are "open" to negotiations being instigated by backroom workers from the stinking palace beside the stinking river. The deal proposed by the "bright" boys to the two is this: Run a "third force" composed of mostly re-electionist senators, plus civil society leaders who would be bumped off in a proposed united opposition ticket, or who for reasons of their own, "detest" being in an Erap-endorsed line-up. The Palace, that munificent bounty of "goodies," will bankroll all the expenses.

The two have been secretly button-holing their colleagues. A "third force" composed of six re-electionist senators, three youthful congressmen, two balik-senadores, and one or two more from civil society leaders will be presented to the public as the "better alternative". Significantly, most if not all of the mix and match, figure very high in both the SWS and Pulse Asia’s recent surveys. The political parties in the "third force" would consist of the Nacionalista, the Liberal faction of Senator Frank Drilon, the LDP, or what remains of it, the Aksyon Demokratiko, plus independents, meaning those with no known political party affiliations (as of press time).

At first glance, it looks silly getting personalities who do not even speak to each other inside one senatorial line-up. But then, some do not even know what they are getting into, because the two re-electionist conspirators are not telling everything. The key to their sales talk is money – lots of it (kuno) which is hard to come by in mid-term elections. The two were elected in 2001, when the campaign season began barely a month since GMA ascended to power. They were part of what was billed as a "people power" ticket, fueled by hatred for the deposed president. Malacañang bankrolled that campaign, which served as the first litmus test of political acceptability of a regime ushered into power by a grand conspiracy. The ill-fated Edsa Tres stole the thunder from what they had hoped to be a clean sweep, and four from the Pwersa ng Masa survived the 2001 senatorial debauchery. Garci and his gang had not yet been harnessed completely.

Here's more:

Now one of these senators has been assured of a slot in the opposition line-up, courtesy of the political party he is affiliated with, and whose president has been quietly negotiating with the mainstream opposition. This party has been quite deft at political brinkmanship. In its roster are some of the most strident oppositionists, champions of impeachment in the Lower House after the Hello Garci tapes were discovered, and champions likewise of the struggle against a railroaded cha-cha. But many in the party are fence-sitters, or otherwise straddle the political divide.

Senator Noted.

The other senator is one who has yet to make up his mind on whether to run for re-election or not. He sounds like an independent, and indeed, the man is gifted with sharp wit and sharp mental reflexes. But in many a scandal that rocked the present administration, he has been a sly protector of her interests, or to put it more succinctly, "his".

Joker Arroyo.

My mole in the palace who has always told me correct information in the past, says the idea is to "kill" the Erap-led "unity" ticket before it is even born. A third force composed of heavyweights will be billed as the "principled alternative", guys who were mostly at Edsa Dos, and even those who were with the fallen president but who have had a "change of heart". Funny thing is, some of the names mentioned as being part of the "Third Farce" do not yet know what they might eventually get suckered into.

So secretly, ayaw pala matuloy ng admin ang Erap-led unity ticket. Hmmm...

One re-electionist senator who figures very high in the surveys wants to be part of a single ticket, but he belongs to a party whose leaders were very much a moving force in Edsa Dos, and as such, he is distrusted by some elements of the Estrada-identified opposition. His party-mate, a young congressman who is heir to an illustrious name, likewise wants to be part of a single opposition ticket, but the farce of a third force wants to claim them on the basis of their Edsa Dos affinity with them.

Ralph Recto (re-electionist senator) and Alan Peter Cayetano, Recto's party-mate congressman.

One very visible oppositionist in the Senate who also ranks at the top in surveys, will not want to be in the company of another re-electionist in the same ticket, but the palace tacticians ask, what choice would he have if the slate is completed and the so-called opposition ticket has been hollowed out as a result?

Lacson (very visible oppositionist) and Angara (the "other" re-electionist).

To make the third farce look even more like a powerful force, it will include the most strident oppositionist in the House, the young guy most disliked by the pater familia, not to mention les fils et frere. Incroyable?

Alan Peter Cayetano.

There’s more. Two senators who want to go back to familiar haunts are also billeted in the grand conspiracy. Both were champions of the ill-fated run of the King whose presidency was stolen by a conspiracy of cheats. The trick is to first hollow-out the opposition ticket by getting two major political party components out of it, and then face the two with no other choice but to join in the farce of a third force. And what’s in it for them? First-class accommodations all the way, all expenses paid. Would they get to their final destination, that "Shangri-la" called the Senate of the realm? Oh yes, they would be allowed to win to lend the elections credibility. After all, the palace tacticians say, "madali namang kausapin ang mga iyan pagdating ng panahon".

Sino kaya ito?

But what about the terror of Pidal, and that brat who keeps talking in German when the premiere famille understands only Castilian? That’s where the Comelec, and the police, and the military, and the cooperative LGU’s step in.

At the end of the day, we will have the following "newly elected or newly re-elected senators": Five re-electionists who are politically "workable", two from the NP, one LP, one LDP and one independent. Two balik-Senado. Plus five from the kakampi menagerie.

They would hijack the elections, even before the campaign begins. Brilliant. Machiavellian. As deft as a Sun-Tzu battle maneuver. And the "united" opposition is out-maneuvered once again, all because they have a "surfeit" of applicants while there is what looks at first glance as a plague in the other house. Except that what you see is not what you get. Legerdemain, magic, mirrors, smokescreens, the "prestige".

And the attraction is that which has always been fatal to anyone with ambition – money and more money. Which the opposition does not have. And the assurance that what the cheats did in 2004 they can reprise with greater finesse, because the cheats are all in the woodwork. Plus what they call the "political will" to do what ought to be done to retain themselves in power, by hook or by crook. And every day that passes merely shows that they can brutally carry out whatever it is they are bent on accomplishing, whether it is the prosecutorial massacre of elected officials, or the cover-up of the grandest and greatest of crimes against the people.

This is what we will all deserve, either because we are amorally conscripted, or because those who claim to lead us lead only for personal glory.

UPDATE: Sino ba ang source ni Lito Banayo? Si Defensor? I don't disagree with everything Lito says, especially the "Third Farce" concept, but maybe Lito's being played and "spun around" too by his leaky source in Malacanang. The information Lito got may not be an outright lie, but it's not exactly the "true" truth either, but an interpretation of the truth from Tolits' Malacanang source.

Read this too from MLQ3: We saw the alternative:

MUCH as I’m not the only one underwhelmed by the United Opposition’s Senate slate, I feel uncomfortable with the hammering it is getting because of the names it contains. Not only because the list isn’t finished; much of the criticism is unwarranted and unfair.

Read the whole thing.

UPDATE: Angara's bid hinges on "Third Farce"