Cesar Montano hindi nabayaran? Kaya aalis sa TU? Naman!

From the Philstar:

As persistent rumors have it, actor-director Cesar Montano is reportedly contemplating on pulling out as senatorial candidate of President Arroyo’s Team Unity due to the failure of Malacañang to make true its P200-million campaign fund promise.

A very reliable source revealed that a Cabinet member, who takes charge of distributing campaign kitties of national and local candidates, has been withholding the amount, jeopardizing the actor’s candidacy, who was the last to declare his bid among his colleagues.

.....
Montano’s camp said the actor was not closing his door on the possibility of running for governor, but denied it was because the administration failed to give him campaign funds.

The question is, how can the admin bets have "problems with money"? Hindi ba sagut ng taxpayers ang campaign money ng TU? Binabarat ba ng malacanang si Kuya Cesar?

More from Ellen Tordesillas:

Ang tunay na dahilan kung bakit medyo nanlalamig si Cesar Montano sa kanyang kandidatura sa pagka-senador sa ilalim ng team GMA ay hindi pala nabibigay ang P200 milyon na ipinangako ng Malacañang sa kanya hanggang ngayon.

Ito ay nanggaling sa isang malapit na tao kay Montano.

Itong mga nakaraang araw, napabalita na hindi sumisipot si Montano sa mga rally ng Team GMA at umu-ugong na baka mag-withdraw siya. Siyempre ang press relase ni Gabby Claudio, ang political operator ni Glori Arroyo, ay nag-aadjust pa raw si Montano sa kultura ng pulitika.

Maala-ala natin na si Montano ay biglaang isinama sa tiket ng Team GMA nang mag-withdraw si Leyte Gov. Jericho Petilla. Di ba nasa shooting siya at pinatawag siya sa Malacañang. Sabi ni Montano na si Gloria Arroyo mismo ang kumausap sa kanya.

Nang tanungin si Montano kung sino ang gagastos sa kanyang kampanya na sabi ng mga beterano sa politika ay aabot sa P250 milyon, sinabi niya “administrasyon” raw. Kasi nga naman raw, nagkakahalagang P30 milyon na kontrata sa advertisement ang nawala sa kanya dahil sa pagpasok sa pulitika.

Maliban sa P200 milyon na cash, ang pagka-intindi namin walang problema si Montano sa eroplano at helicopter, TV ads at organisasyon niya. Sagot lahat ng Malacañang. Kailangan kasi ng Team GMA panghatak ng mga tao sa kanilang mga rally.

Team "Unity" pa ba ito? Naku naman! Bakit nyo naman binabarat si Kuya Cesar!

Kaya nga Mr. Montano decided to run for the Senate, kasi pangako nyo na sagot nyo ang lahat ng gastusin, diba maam? He gave up his TV shows at advertisements, na malaking pera rin naman.

More from the Inquirer: TEAM Unity studying Montano’s ‘additional needs’--spokesman

Money Quote:

Over the weekend, reports said that Montano had been absent in some sorties because of lack of campaign funds.

"To run a good campaign, there are three things you need -- money, money, money," a source from Montano’s camp told INQUIRER.net.

Another source said it was good thing that the actor’s gripes about money came out so that the administration could be aware of it and act on it.

Tongue Twisted's insightful comment about Kuya Cesar Montano's tactic is worth reading too.

More from Lito Banayo on Cesar and Richard Gomez:

What every survey in town confirms though is that Cesar Montano and Richard Gomez made a serious mistake in thinking their star appeal will buy them a seat in the Senate.

Mukhang hindi na sila uso.

Theirs is a personal financial debacle after the elections rule that people do not find their star appeal lustrous enough. Talo na, mawawalan pa ng sine. Worse, their multi-million income from product endorsements and television commercials would go phfft, like a punctured balloon.

Siguro natatauhan na si Buboy. Kaya nagmukmok ng ilang araw. So Team GMA had to ante up more money, or else its one and only crowd-drawer becomes a recluse. Friendly advice to Buboy, and his personal handler Romy Chong: Take whatever money there is and disappear from the political scene.

As for friend Goma, that’s what you get for "selling" yourself to all sides. Had you just stayed the course, and shown loyalty to your ninong Erap and pal JV, you would have made it to the GO Team, where your chances of winning would have been more enhanced. Drop out now, show some remorse, join the campaign sorties of GO, and perhaps go for it in 2010.

The Anti Hillary video everybody's talking about

from Instapundit:

THE APPLE-THEMED ANTI-HILLARY VIDEO that people were talking about last week is still of uncertain authorship. But it's been viewed over 100,000 times because -- as one of the commenters notes -- it's funny.

kinda reminded me of this youtube video re Maam Arroyo with the "V for Vendetta" theme.

Aside from Satur, three more party listers face possible arrest

From the PHILSTAR:

Three more party-list lawmakers may be arrested after murder charges are filed against them before the Nueva Ecija prosecutor’s office, a human rights lawyer said yesterday.

Lawyer Nere Colmenares of the Council for Defense for Civil Liberties (CODAL) said Reps. Liza Maza, Rafael Mariano and Teddy Casiño, along with Rep. Satur Ocampo, are accused of involvement in the murders of Bayan Muna supporters in Bongabong, Nueva Ecija.

Speaking to reporters in Quezon City, Colmenares said the series of arrests and filing of cases against party-list lawmakers could be part of a crackdown against the opposition in preparation for the implementation of the anti-terror law, which takes effect after the May 14 elections.

Ocampo is now the subject of a police manhunt after the Leyte regional trial court ordered his arrest in connection with a New People’s Army purge in Inopacan town in Leyte more than 20 years ago.

Police raided the Quezon City home yesterday of Ocampo, but failed to find the lawmaker, who authorities believe is still in Metro Manila.

If this is true, then I too question the timing of this, just like I question the timing of the arrest warrant on Satur Ocampo delivered just a few weeks before election day.

Ah... But maybe this is the admin's way of showing Phillip Alston and the UN that they are wrong! WRONG! re their report -- by "exposing" party listers like Satur, Lisa and Teddy as the true masterminds of the extrajudicial killings!

Ganyan rin ang sinabi ni Conrad de Quiros sa latest article nya ngayon:

LET ME BE CLEAR: I PERSONALLY WELCOME the authors of the “killing fields,” or communist purges, being prosecuted and punished severely where they are found guilty. I’ve held that position from the very beginning. Some of my friends are either survivors of those purges or the kin of the dead, and I am an ardent supporter of their quest for justice. We can no more turn a blind eye to those killings, or dismiss them as just the internal, if lethal, intramurals of the enemy, and which probably do the community a service, than we can to the killings that have been happening plentifully in our midst over the last several years.

Having said that, I protest most vehemently the arrest warrant on Satur Ocampo. That is an abomination that has no right to exist in a country pretending to be a democracy. Indeed, in a country pretending to have elections.

What’s wrong with it is everything.

At the very least its timing sucks.

The arrest warrant comes at a time when the international community has been loudly condemning the killings in the Philippines. Philip Alston and the Melo Commission have directly attributed those killings to military elements - the Melo Commission has expressly named Jovito Palparan. They have further raised the issue of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s culpability in them.

The arrest warrant against Ocampo is clearly an attempt by the government to hijack the public’s attention away from it. While at the same time selling that idiotic idea, which it has maintained throughout the Alston and Melo investigations, that it’s the NPA and not the military that is responsible for the killings, presumably in continuation of the purges. Whether or not the police actually serve the warrant against Ocampo, the mere fact of issuing it allows the government to press this point, or at least - since it cannot seriously expect to persuade a cynical public to buy it - to muddle the issue and take some of the sting out of the global opprobrium over the killings.

Exactly.

Or maybe it's just the admin's attempt to preempt and cast doubt on Satur Ocampo before leaves for the US to testify before the US Senate committee on foreign relations?

Meanwhile, embattled Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Satur Ocampo, also yesterday vowed to participate through whatever means in the upcoming United States Senate hearing on the continued extra-judicial killings in the Philippines.

Although still unsure as to how he would participate in the March 14 US Senate committee on foreign relations hearing, Ocampo said he would not allow government harassment to prevent him from doing so.

In an announcement posted on the US government’s Web site, the subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs will hold a hearing to “examine strategies to end the violence relating to extra-judicial killings in the Philippines.”

Ocampo said he intends to participate in the investigation in whatever manner, claiming the right to do so as he is the president of Bayan Muna, many members of which had fallen victim to extra-judicial killings.

Militant group Karapatan has recorded more than 830 cases of political killing from the time Mrs. Arroyo assumed the presidency in January 2001.

Ocampo, now the subject of a manhunt after an arrest warrant was issued against him by a Leyte judge over a revived multiple murder case, is now in hiding but vowed to surface in due time.

The congressman extended his gratitude to US Sen. Barbara Boxer, chief deputy Democratic whip in the US Senate and a senior member of the foreign relations committee, for accommodating requests from various organizations and churches in the Philippines.

These groups have asked the US Senate to investigate the continued extrajudicial killings in the country.

The hearing will be followed by the convening of the second session on the Philippines of the Permanent Peoples Tribunal on March 21 to 25 in The Hague, The Netherlands.

And from the PDI Editorial: What a difference a legitimacy crisis makes

Six years ago, the Arroyo administration welcomed Bayan Muna’s lead nominee, Satur Ocampo, to its miting de avance. Today, the Arroyo administration, still in the throes of a crisis of legitimacy it likes to pretend has already been resolved, is maneuvering to put Ocampo behind bars.

Ocampo, a former communist rebel who has become the face of the legal, militant opposition, may surface today to file a petition with the Supreme Court. But we are certain that, even if he successfully extricates himself from the new charge filed against him, more charges lie in wait for him and his colleagues in leftist party-list groups.

Kiko Pangilinan was the first senatorial candidate to condemn the raid on Satur's house.

Ping Lacson also questioned the timing of Satur's arrest warrant since lamang ang Bayan Muna sa polls:

In Laguna, meanwhile, Sen. Panfilo Lacson questioned the timing of the arrest warrant on Ocampo, saying it came out at a time Bayan Muna was among the leading parties in a survey.

While he declined to "advise" Ocampo on whether to submit himself to the courts, he recalled that in May 2001 he and then Sen. Gregorio Honasan refused to turn themselves in when Malacañang declared a state of rebellion and ordered their arrest.

But he pointed out that in his and Honasan's case in 2001, it was a unilateral order by Malacañang. In Ocampo's case, he said the order for his arrest stemmed from a court order.

"Maraming legal remedies. Dapat exhaust niya lahat (There are many legal remedies and he should exhaust them all first)," he said.

MLQ3 says na Ocampo must face the charges squarely and under whatever circumstances, unfair or not, so that a trial may play out.

Amando Doronila: Police raid reenacts repressive methods of Marcos regime

Erap also condemned the troop deployments in Metro Manila.

According to the detained leader, “the AFP had first tried to justify this urban troop deployment on the pretext of ‘responding to requests from barangay officials for help in maintaining peace and order.’ When told that this was a usurpation of the function of the PNP (Philippine National Police), the AFP was forced to admit that this was really part of its “counterinsurgency operations.”

Estrada said, “In the light of a recent SWS (Social Weather Stations) survey result that leftist party-list organizations like Bayan Muna, Anak Pawis and Gabriela are the top preferences of voters, it has become very obvious to me that this urban troop deployment is a very partisan electoral psy-war operation designed by GMA (Mrs. Arroyo’s intiials) and her generals to prevent the leaders of Bayan Muna and other anti-GMA party-list organizations from being elected to the House of Representatives and added to the pro-impeachment bloc.”

He called on officers and soldiers of the AFP to stand by their constitutional role as protectors of the Filipino people and to oppose any further attempts by their commanders to use them for partisan electoral activities like what allegedly happened during the 2004 elections.

More on the same article:

Ocampo is apparently not alone in his fight against what many see as political harassment as law enforcers also yesterday continued to be under fire from the political opposition in connection with the the issuance of the arrest warrant against the congressman, which authorized a raid on the lawmaker’s Quezon City residence over the weekend, an incident they claimed further highlighted the charges against him as only aimed at crippling his bid for another term in the House.

Reelectionist Sen. Francis Pangilinan and Genuine Opposition senatorial bet Francis “Chiz” Escudero also yesterday slammed those who effected the raid, saying it is undeniable that an abuse of authority was committed this time.

Both rallied behind Ocampo, with Pangilinan noting the party-list representative is being singled out by the government, to the extent of resorting to strong-arm tactics.

Escudero, in chiding the government, said while the Anti-terrorism law, of 2007, the Human Security Act, is yet to be implemented, it is now practically being enforced.

“Clearly, this is harassment and bullying tactics against a member of the minority, a member of the opposition. Just because they don’t share the same opinion (with the administration), they should be subjected to arrest, issuance of arrest warrant or filing of charges,” he said.

Escudero urged Ocampo to seek all possible legal remedies in defending his rights even as he is entitled under the law to be protected by the government amid the charges hurled at him.

Read this too from Ninez Cacho Olivarez.

Last year, her cops arrested another leftist party-lister, Crispin Beltran, on charges of rebellion, claiming later that they had a warrant of arrest for him for the crime of rebellion — which was a 20-year-old arrest warrant. Beltran has been languishing in detention for over a year and the courts don’t seem to be moving a finger to right whatever wrong there is.

This will happen to Ocampo too. All Gloria and her partisan generals want is to clamp these leftists in jail, to get them out of Congress and put their party-listers in the House of Representatives — naturally with the full assistance of their obedient Comelec.

Didn’t the Comelec already say it can’t demand that the military pull out its troops in Metro Manila since what they do is not a political activity? This is Comelec’s claim, despite the photos, videos and affidavits from party-list groups that the soldiers have been harassing and intimidating voters into rejecting the leftist party-list groups.

Here's a sign na magkakaroon ng MALAKING dayaan sa eleksyon 07

It's about COMELEC's bloated voters list. I have to thank Sen. Drilon for noticing this last year.

After reading the linked post above. REad this one. Then connect the dots.

Hey, I'm just sayin... ;)

UDPATE: Hard to believe this, but James Jimenez once defended COMELEC's crazy 49 Mil voter projection.

Now, where did this 310 ++ thousand established precincts projection come from? This number comes from the projected increase in the number of registered voters from about 43 million in 2004 to about 48.6 million (49 million if you round up) in 2007; that's only an approximately 6 million increase in voters.

He used the NSO "projections" (but didn't this admin failed to collect data for it's 2005 census?) And you're using their fuzzy data to push your crazy estimate?

NSO Projections

Speaking of projections, I might as well tell you that our voter projections are based on the National Statistics Office's "medium assumption population projection." Under this model, the NSO predicts that there will be 88,706,300 Filipinos by 2007, and that 61% of that number will be of voting age: 54,110,843. However, taking into account that not all people of voting age are interested in voting, the COMELEC estimates the number of registered voters to only be 90% of that number, or 48,699,759; rounded up to 49 million.

So, can we register 6 million new registrants between end of Q2 and the 31st of December 2006? We could, but we don't expect all 6 million to come register.

The "estimate" itself is ridiculous, James. 49 Million?

The 49 million registered voters in 2007 is an estimate. It is not graven in stone. As a matter of fact, the number of registered voters eventually included in the 2007 list of voters can be more or can be less than that number; probably less. The point is, such a projection does not indicate fraud and it was incredibly irresponsible for the Tribune to frame its story in that manner.

"Can be more"??? What were you smoking, James?

This doesn't look good for COMELEC too:

Gloria was hoping against hope that her Charter change (Cha-cha) train will reach its no-elections (No-el) station and so she purposely jumbled, to her advantage of course, the timetable of her Comelec’s printing of ballots and other election paraphernalia for the May 2007 mid-term polls.

Now, her stooges at the election body are telling us that they may have to tap outside printers to print the ballots, as well as election returns (ERs), certificates of canvass (CoC) and statements of votes (SoVs) for the mid-term polls a little more than two months away.

A Gloria boy at the Comelec the other day claimed that they will need at least three to four months to produce a total of 45 million ballots, presumably for as many voters and a number that defies demographics.

Then, this agency made more infamous by “Garci” and his clones should have begun printing the election paraphernalia at the start of 2007, at the latest, to beat their deadline, as it was clear at the time that the Cha-cha train was doomed.

But Gloria and her Sigaw ng Bayan and Ulap clique were incurable optimists, for the wrong political reasons, in that they were already clutching at straws and yet thinking they were clinging to bungee ropes that will safely bring them down to No-el land, which scenario they had conjured up for Gloria to rule until she is really old and really gray.

Thus, the printing of the poll materials was conveniently delayed at the behest of Malacañang.

Worse, the Comelec executive director also claimed that “circumstances we cannot determine right now” had not been considered to fall within the three to four months’ completion of the printing of the poll paraphernalia.

If Gloria’s gofers in the Comelec do not think ahead for them to be able to take control of these “circumstances,” the reason behind such “excuse” is that Garci’s favorite textmate does the thinking for them.

With outside printers being mulled to save the mid-term elections, expect a repeat of the cramming by the Comelec in 2004 when Abalos was reported to have jobbed out printing of ERs, CoC and SoVs to private groups, paving the way for excess printing of such documents and eventually the massive fraud in the presidential elections that saw Gloria “win.”

More on Joker

From tito DJB:

JOker is acting not as a human rights lawyer now, but a pure politician pandering to the Left because he is in danger of getting knocked out of the Magic 12…by Edgardo Angara and Mike Defensor or Sonia Roco.

Actually, Joker doesn't care if he loses or wins, DJB. In fact, he secretly will feel relieved if he loses. He's just there to help TU win vs. GO, NOT do another 6 years in the Senate.

Here's what I think the deal is re joker. The guy never intended to run for reelection again in the first place--probably because of his age (80 years old), and because being a senator again means another 6 years (dats a long time) in office. Kaya hindi siya nakasali sa unang release ng mga GO senatoriables last year that the UNO and villar has negotiated with.

But Mike Defensor, JOker's protege, was able to convince joker to help Team Arroyo one last time by running in it's slate, on the condition tha the admin drop it's CHA CHA push, for now. TU sorely lacks credibility among the voters and jOker's reputation as an "independent" and a "maverick" will help TU's chances. Kaya siya na ang madalas na gamiting spokesperson ng TU, at hindi na masyado si defensor.

Si Joker ang dahilan kung bakit na delay ang composition ng GO Senate slate. The reason why 8 lang ang slots na na-fill up ng GO sa simula ay dahil hindi sigurado ang opposition kung IN or OUT si Joker (at Recto).

I believe Villar and Kiko intially refused to be included in GO slate because LP-NP's plan was for GO to include all four of the Wednesday group members in its slate, or none of them will join GO.

Walang Iwanan.

But lacson was confident then na siguradong pasok si joker at recto sa GO:

There was, however, no confirmation of this information, but an UNO candidate said yesterday that reelectionist senators who are members of the administration bloc in the upper chamber – Villar, Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan, Senators Ralph Recto and Joker Arroyo – will definitely run under the opposition ticket and these are the remaining four who will be filling up the remaining four UNO senatorial slots.

Opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson yesterday put “himself” at stake, effectively bolstering an earlier Tribune report on the complete UNO senatorial slate as disclosed by sources after leaders of the opposition coalition party named eight of its candidates who will vie for the upper chamber race this year.
.....
Lacson maintained, based on the assurances given him by Recto and Arroyo, “there’s no way for them to join the administration ticket or the so-called unity ticket or the so-called third force,” dismissing reports that the two are not among those chosen by UNO.

As was Ernie Maceda of GO.

Pero false hope lang pala ang inclusion ni Joker ARroyo sa GO. At nagmukhang tanga si Lacson. Pati si Villar at ang Liberal Party, the people that were pushing the hardest for his inclusion in GO, was fooled by Joker.

Joker was only bluffing, and the Oppo called him on it. Sabi ni Lito Banayo kay Joker:

Only Ralph Recto and Joker Arroyo fulfilled their previous commitment to shack up with the GMA corral, after kunwari hemming and hawing and keeping the opposition bitin. Was that part of the plot too? Hindi naman siguro. At least Manny Villar does not think so.

Villar and the Liberal party were trying to get Joker in the GO slate (and the Oppo had no problems with Joker's inclusion), but joker failed to inform LP and NP na he never wanted to join GO all along--dahil matagal na siyang naka-reserba sa slate ng TU.

UPDATE: Sabi ni Conrad de Quiros:

One would imagine with the elections shaping up that way, the “opposition” would put up a united front and make the contrast between them and GMA a lot starker. Or put the distance between them and her a lot longer. Or one would imagine that they’d get their act together and register their opposition to GMA’s illegitimacy and dictatorship a lot more stridently.

But no, the opposite is happening. Instead of creating a broad united front, the opposition has divided itself into the Erap people and the non-Erap people, with the Erap people getting favored treatment in UNO. JV Ejercito’s decision to make way for Sonia Roco is far too little and probably far too late. The rest of the pack, disgusted by that turn of events, but with their own political ambitions flailing at them like a whip to a horse, have gone their separate ways, many of them making their own pacts with the devil. Or joining the administration camp or groups allied with GMA.

You're wrong Conrad. The opposition tried to get all four Wed. groupers included. You say the oppo favored erap? maybe at the beginning. Pero sa huli, bumigay rin sila. If Wed. group accepted the final four slots of GO, ganito ang magiging itsura.

Civil Society/non-Erap GO bets:
1) Joker
2) Kiko
3) Villar
4) Recto
5) Legarda
6) Noynoy
7) Alan Cayetano
8) Roco

Erap GO bets:
1) John Osmena
2) Koko Pimentel
3) Lacson
4) Escudero

Joker finally breaks his silence (kinda)

From Dean Jorge Bocobo:

Joker Arroyo is the “index species” of Team Unity. He’s already pandering to the Leftists as his poll numbers drop along with his chances of victory.

Hehe... tahimik kasi si joker dati eh.

At least he's now criticizing the plans of this admin to arrest Satur Ocampo, ano?

Siguro "nagising" ng konti si mr. human rights lawyer nung binabatikos siya ng mga dating kaalyado niya sa kaliwa for his deafening silence on the extra-judicial killings issue:

Filipino Leftist Groups Question Silence Of Human Rights Lawyer -Senator On Political Killings

March 6, 2007 7:16 a.m. EST

Komfie Manalo - All Headline News Correspondent
Manila, Philippines (AHN) - Left-leaning organizations in the Philippines on Tuesday called the attention of human rights lawyer and maverick Senator Joker Arroyo. The groups are pushing for Arroyo to break his silence on the controversial political killings in the country, which were being blamed on the military. Arroyo is running under the pro-administration Team Unity for the upcoming senatorial polls in May.

In separate statements, the party-list group Anakpawis and fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya said, "What happened to this self-confessed human rights advocate? It is time to open his big mouth and speak out against this state-sponsored terrorism and military-imposed de facto martial law in Metro Manila."

Fernando Hicap, Anakpawis nominee for the congressional elections and national chairman of Pamalakaya adds, "Definitely he is missing the action."

The groups also challenged the reelectionist senator to take a formal stand on the issue of urban militarization.

Hicap said, "Senator Arroyo chose to remain silent despite the fact that the situation merits his involvement as a staunch defender of the 1987 Constitution and the people's human rights and civil liberties."

"Didn't he say that 'If you're bad, Joker Arroyo will get you'? This political advertisement will remain a rhetoric electoral campaign piece unless Senator Arroyo breathes life to it through concrete actions," he adds.

The group said they hope the senator was "not joking," in his campaign slogan.

Despite Arroyo's "deafening silence" on urban militarization, Anakpawis and Pamalakaya still appealed to candidates of Team Unity and Genuine Opposition to cross party lines and denounce the militarization of Metro Manila.

The military ordered the deployment of soldiers in urban poor communities, particularly in areas where people's based organizations have strong followings, despite the absence of lawless violence, foreign invasion and armed rebellion.

Yeah, what about the Extra-judicial Killings, Joker? And the attempts by the military to intimidate the party listers (and the voters to vote a certain way) in Metro Manila and other universities?

Hello Garci issue a "cheap shot" to muddle elections - admin solons

From the People's Tonight:

MEMBERS of the House majority yesterday slammed lawyer Alan Paguia’s petition for the Commission on Elections to investigate the alleged poll fraud involving ex-Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano, calling it as another opposition’s cheap shot to muddle the election process using the “Hello Garci” case.

Nationalist People’s Coalition Representatives Benasing Macarambon of Lanao del Sur, vice chair of the House committee on national defense and security, and Eduardo Veloso of Leyte, member of the Commission on Appointments, said Paguia’s petition was also out of order since the Comelec was not the right venue to charge the President of any alleged wrongdoing.

Macarambon said the filing of Paguia’s petition was suspect considering that he or any interested individual for that matter could have filed the case against Garcillano since the “Hello Garci” tape became an issue in 2004.

“They had all the chances to file the case against Garcillano since 2004 yet they opted to use the ‘Hello Garci’ scandal for trial by publicity against President Arroyo. Obviously, they are now trying to revive the issue as part of the opposition’s black propaganda against the administration during the campaign to mar the credibility of the administration coalition’s candidates,” said Macarambon.

In the first place, wala pa ang Hello Garci tapes noong 2004. And I'm pretty sure there were numerous cases filed against Garci already on the electoral fraud, including his lying about not leaving the country to hide from authorities and presenting a fake passport before the House, only to be dismissed and whitewashed by the admin and from it's allies.

Maceda on the House Garci report:

Garci report. Once again, the House of Representatives has reaffirmed that it is under Malacañang’s control with the way the final report of five House committees on the Garcillano tapes came out. It did not hold GMA or any official of her administration liable for poll fraud, violation of the Anti-Wiretapping law, perjury, obstruction of justice and the Code of Ethics and Ethical Standards for public officers.

Cavite Rep. Gilbert Remulla who headed most of the joint hearings before being replaced by Rep. Emmy Lou Taino Santos, commented that GMA, former Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano, officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Subic Air should have been held liable for violation of several laws.

UPDATE: More from Dean Bocobo. It was a challenge issued by Commissioner Borra pala:

Talking on ABSCBN News Mornings on ANC, lawyer and teacher Alan Paguia continues the good fight to bring to light the true nature and provenance of the Garci recordings. Against all odds he has filed a verified complaint with the Comelec to investigate the matter, inspired he says by Commissioner Resurreccion Borra's challenge that some one do so.

And now, someone has taken up Borra's challenge.

Naisipan ni Paguia na muling buhayin ang isyu ng pandaraya nang mapanood niya sa balita si COMELEC Commissioner Ressureccion Borra.

Sinabi ni Borra na hindi magawang imbestigahan ng COMELEC ang isyu dahil wala naman umanong nagsasampa ng reklamo sa kanilang tanggapan.

"It struck me na, 'Oo nga! Wala pang nagpa-file ng complaint sa COMELEC para mag-imbestiga.' Kasi iba 'yong investigation sa House na in aid of legislation. So I took up the challenge," ani Paguia.

Previous: (Feb 22, 2007) 'Hello Garci' issue touches raw nerve at Comelec

Tito Sotto: Alliance with TU, "God's Will"

From the People's Journal:

COMEBACKING Sen. Vicente Sotto III is now attributing his alliance with the administration’s Team Unity to “God’s will.”

“Ako (ay) naniniwala na ‘di ka mapupunta sa isang lugar na hindi ka dinala ng Diyos duon eh. Ako (ay) naniniwala na dinala kami ng Diyos dito, ng tandhana dito,” he said in an interview.

He also once claimed that FPJ would have supported his decision to join Team Arroyo if he were alive today. lol.

Sotto, however, said he and fellow former opposition stalwart Tessie Aquino-Oreta have only allied with Team Unity and not with President Arroyo and her administration.

“Hindi kami sumama sa admin eh, kami ay sumama sa Team Unity,” he said.

Huh? But isn't TU the administration ticket? And wasn't reconciliation with the Arroyo admin (the people who cheated your bet) one of the main goals you are pushing for if you become senator?

Kiko Pangilinan

Before, nagtataka tayo kung bakit ipinagpipilit ng GO na isama si Kiko sa lineup nito even though mukhang ayaw naman ni Pangilinan. Now we know the background story. It's because of "The Agreement."

Pangilinan said that the reason why he doesn't want join GO was because he doesn't want to campaign with people associated with Erap. But wasn't he they guy who floated the idea of a "third farce" that included the names of Lacson, Loi Estrada and Angara?

Pangilinan also said na GO did not seek his consent when they adopted him:

A case of an orphan reluctant to be adopted.

Senatorial candidate Francis “Kiko" Pangilinan has set the record straight that he will remain as an independent candidate and will not carry the opposition slate in his campaign.

Pangilinan, in an interview with a television station Monday, said that though he was adopted by the Genuine Opposition (GO), the adoption was made without his consent.

“I did not ask to be included in the ticket (of the opposition)", Pangilinan said.

“I didn’t seek to speak with anyone (from) UNO (United Opposition)…There are people in UNO who are vocal on their opposition (to my inclusion in the opposition slate)," he said.

Actually, it was Manny Villar who tried to get you included in the Opposition slate as early as last year pa.

And the Opposition did try to get your "consent" to join GO. But when it failed to get a response from you, it included you anyway because of the "The Agreement", where Drilon's Liberal Party batted for your inclusion (probably without your consent and knowledge too?). That was the condition that the Drilon camp gave if there was going to be any "Grand Coalition" with the Oppo. You have to admire Drilon and Liberal's loyalty to Pangilinan. They were looking out for you, Kiko. And they got you in.

So the opposition can't replace you even if it wanted to, because that would be violating the gentleman's Agreement. So 11 candidates na lang sila. Not the ideal, but we can live with it.

But if you really didn't want to join the Opposition, you could have just told Drilon or Abad na you don't want to be a part of GO, since sila naman ang nag-push para sa inclusion mo. That will free GO to pick a replacement. But i doubt you'd do that.

You kept saying na it's GO's decision whether to keep you or not. Not true. If it were that simple, it would have replaced you a long time ago.

Pero an agreement is an agreement. Maybe in hindsight the agreement over Kiko was a mistake, but that's all water under the bridge na. Maybe the opposition panicked into agreeing to take kiko in because the Opposition felt that the anti-GMA movement needed a united front vs. Arroyo, at kung maghiwalay ang Liberal Party at UNO, that would only benefit arroyo.

Again, all water under the bridge, and the opposition will honor the Kiko agreement their LP partners.

You're right na there were some in the opposition who were against your inclusion, like Tito Sotto, but he's gone now, probably because of you. But there were people who fought to get you included too like lito banayo.

Si Manuel Buencamino naiinis rin sa iyo:

Francis Pangilinan is another matter. He bragged, “I have not asked to be included on the UNO list so I am not sure what that means. If they adopt me that’s their decision.”

Pangilinan shouldn’t be talking that way. The UNO had reservations about taking him in because of his role in the congressional canvass that railroaded Mrs. Arroyo’s proclamation, and the administration was divided over him because he joined Sen. Franklin Drilon’s call for Mrs. Arroyo to resign. Besides, Gabby Concepcion would be senator and he would be running for barangay council if Gabby had stayed married to Sharon. Francis Pangilinan CUNETA needs to remember who he is.

He's right of course. Kaya medyo nagka-watak watak ng konti ang Opposition sa umpisa (with Sotto and Oreta leaving) was because UNO was trying to get all four of the Wednesday Groupers included (you, Villar, Joker, REcto) at nagkaroon ng konting away dahil sa inyo. If any of you made it crystal clear from the beginning na ayaw nyong sumali sa Opposition, then GO wouldn't even have this crazy notion of leaving four slots for the Wednesday Group.

False Hope lang pala yon.

Hindi ba Joker "Ubusin ang mga Corrupt" Arroyo?

Tama si Lito Banayo:

Only Ralph Recto and Joker Arroyo fulfilled their previous commitment to shack up with the GMA corral, after kunwari hemming and hawing and keeping the opposition bitin. Was that part of the plot too? Hindi naman siguro. At least Manny Villar does not think so.

I believe Manny Villar is the only member of the Wednesday group that was dealing with the Opposition in good faith.

Villar, Joker will not join the debates

From People's Taliba:

UMATRAS sa panukalang debate sa pagitan ng Team Unity at Genuine Opposition sina re-electionists Manuel Villar Jr., at Joker Arroyo dahil na rin sa paniniwala na wala itong patutunguhan.

Sinabi ni Villar na hindi siya masyadong naniniwala dito dahil walang malinaw kung ano ang pag-uusapan at ikalawa, kung hindi rin lang naman daw ito isasahimpapawid ng media ay wala itong patutunguhan.

Ganoon pa man, sinabi ni Villar na kung talagang ma-plantsa na ito ay pwede naman siyang dumalo at makipag-debatehan sa ibang kandidato.

“Hindi ako masyadong naniniwala diyan, kasi ang problema ay yung makikinig, unless na may live broadcast iyan,” paliwanag ni Villar.

Sa bahagi naman ni Arroyo, sinabi nito na hangga’t walang malinaw na alituntunin, paksa, lugar anong lengwahe ang gagamitin na kailangan ay inayunan ng magkatunggaling partido hindi rin siya dadalo.

Chicken! But Villar doesn't really need the debates, because he's going to win. And I think TV coverage shouldn't be a problem. If I were GO, i'd demand the debates be on TV too.

But Joker on the other hand I believe would rather limit the topics to a few issues because he'd rather not be seen on TV defending Arroyo legitimacy, corruption, abuse of power and his own hypocrisy and inconsistencies.

The TV can make you look really good, or really bad. And Joker will look really bad on TV to his supporters (who still think of him as "independent-minded"). It will certainly burst their fantasy about Joker's ehem "independence." It exposes him for what he truly is. Supporters who are undecided about Joker because of his association with Team Arroyo will find it easier NOT to vote for him this time.

So I predict joker will only join the debates if it's in english (para hindi masyadong maintindihan ng masa) at limited ang scope ng topics to a few issues that he thinks are beneficial to him and the arroyo administration.

=====

In other news, Conrad de Quiros recently met with the Ang Kapatiran candidates and finds the meeting "not an unpleasant one."

Why, what was Conrad expecting? lol. Anyway, he says the Kapatiran candidates are just regular people like you and me who enjoy life and likes to have a good time once in a while, and "as resolutely secular as the next fellow".

=====

Joker "Ubusin ang mga Corrupt" Arroyo says the Opposition is only attacking Philip Evardone because he is the brother of Ben Evardone, TU media director.

Senators Panfilo Lacson and Jinggoy Estrada urged President Arroyo to now “execute” the pending recommendation of the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) to dismiss him from his post, on the grounds of the two pending alleged graft cases.

Evardone is the brother of Eastern Samar Gov. Ben Evardone and newly appointed Team Unity’s (TU) media director and the agency he belongs to, NPO, is responsible in the printing of all election paraphernalia, from ballots to election returns and certificates of canvass — all of which were allegedly not spared in the supposed massive cheating during the 2004 presidential polls.

Reelectionist Sen. Joker Arroyo, who is running under the administration ticket, however, came to Evardone’s defense, saying the charges against the two, especially the matter alluding Gov. Evardone’s family ties with the NPO chief in poll fraud are malicious.

“Because it’s election time, there will always be some malice in the way news is projected. Suddenly, (NPO’s) Evardone is now in the media, whatever his position is. If they cannot hit him, they’ll hit the brother,” Senator Arroyo said. “But a candidate saying that the brother of the media TU…that Malacañang is sitting on it, well there’s a malice there,” he said in reacting to the statement made by Lacson.

“Now (that the cheating issue) is being resuscitated, let the people judge. But for me, if I join a team, (that means) I believe in the team, that’s all there is to it. Otherwise, why should I join the team if I don’t believe in it? I am saying that there should be no cheating. I’m not a guarantor of the cheating,” Arroyo said.

Whatever.

Military intimidating people to vote a certain way

We are seeing once again Arroyo's politicization of the military during election time. Ginawa nila ito rin nung 2004 nung ginamit nila ang military para sa dagdag bawas operations.

Sabi ni Mong Palatino of Kabataan:

MILITANT youth organizations yesterday said the military has "invaded" not only urban poor communities but also universities in Metro Manila.

"The deployment of troops in schools is intended to instil fear and intimidate student councils, publications and organizations that are critical of the Arroyo administration and support progressive party-list groups and organizations," said Raymond Palatino, president and nominee of the Kabataan party-list group.

The military has deployed at least 240 soldiers in 27 of the 1,965 barangays in Metro Manila. Amid objections from several sectors, the military said more barangays are requesting that soldiers be deployed.

Palatino said the Armed Forces branded youth organizations as "communist fronts." This was during a forum held Monday at the Philippine Normal University (PNU).

He said the AFP requested the PNU administration to hold the forum as "communist (youth) groups had infiltrated the school."

Palatino said the groups that were tagged as "communist fronts" were Anakbayan, League of Filipino Students, Student Christian Movement of the Philippines, College Editors Guild of the Philippines and the National Union of Students of the Philippines.

He said a similar forum titled "Caravan for Peace and Unity" was held at the Philippine Christian University (PCU) last week.

Palatino said in both forums, the military presented its "Knowing Your Enemy" documentary.

IMO, any accredited Partylist groups must be able to campaign freely without intimidation from Military.

Napansin rin ito ni MLQ3:

Certainly, as today’s Inquirer editorial and the Manila Times editorial point out, if the military has been active in squatter colonies since November, it has to be asked if this is a really valid counterinsurgency effort, since it involves frightening people into not voting a certain way. It seems the government is alarmed by the strength in the surveys of radical party list groups. The question is whether the armed forces have any business telling voters -at the point of a gun- whom to vote for, when they are supposed to be neutral during elections.

I wouldn't be surprised too if the admin will use the same tactics to intimidate voters into voting vs. other Opposition and anti-arroyo candidates. Umpisa pa lang, gagohan na ano?

From Ernie Maceda:

Officers of the Philippine Army have started to conduct seminars not only in 27 barangays of Metro Manila but also in universities and colleges. That’s a big mistake because there are now hundreds of student-witnesses and videotapes of the officers campaigning against Bayan Muna, Gabriela, Anakpawis and other militant party-list groups.

What is reprehensible about this is the misuse of the officers and soldiers in an urban area such as Metro Manila. Recall that when GMA declared an all-out war against the NPA, they recalled 1,500 officers and men from Mindanao and reassigned them to the Southern Luzon Command to fight the NPAs from Southern Tagalog to Bicol provinces. The Defense Secretary Nonong Cruz announced they were training an additional 1,500 men to complete the augmentation force for the Southern Luzon anti-insurgency campaign.

Now, they are using three battalions in Metro Manila to give lectures against the NPAs and its front organizations. They should be sent to the Bondoc Peninsula, Camarines Sur, Albay and Sorsogon as well as Mindoro and go after the NPA regulars. They are wasting their time in Metro Manila.

With Mayors Lito Atienza and Sonny Belmonte not complaining, that’s an admission that they have peace and order problem in their cities.

Reli German accuses GO of "copying" their townhall meeting strategy

Recently demoted United Administration campaign manager Reli German accuses GO of copying their townhall meeting strategy

Sabi ni Reli German:

German also said GO's planned "Talakayang Bayan" or town meetings were mere imitations of TEAM Unity's "Pulong Sulong [Meeting for Progress]."

It's either "ginagaya nila kayo", or they must have read my post here (written the day after the Plaza Miranda rally) where I suggested that it'd be much better and more practical for them to hold "townhall meetings" instead of outdoor rallies.

(Or pareho kayong gaya gaya ang TU at GO sa "Let the Conversation Begin" townhall meeting strategy ni Hillary! LOL.)

It was reported on Manila Standard on Feb. 26 that TU was planning to pilot test it's "Pulong Sulong" strategy.

Team Unity will pilot-test the Pulong Sulong strategy which would divide the candidates into three teams campaigning simultaneously.

Team A includes Montano, Kiram, Zubiri and Magsaysay; Team B—Recto, Oreta, Arroyo and Sotto; and Team C—Defensor, Singson, Pichay and Angara.

Reli German also said the reason GO is "copying" their strategy is because they can't attract any crowds:

"Sobrang gaya-gaya sila, di ba [They are really copycats, right]? They find it difficult to attract crowds to their rallies so they resort to copying our campaign strategy through the Talakayang Bayan," he said.

And I'm sure Reli knows something about it's candidates' "inability to attract crowds", because this is what Team ARroyo's campaign said about their expectations on "Pulong Sulong":

Lupita Kashiwara, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s image consultant and director of Team Unity’s television advertisements, said Team Unity’s new strategy, “Pulong Sulong,” or gathering for progress, would ensure intimacy.

“There will be a maximum of 200 people as audience, so the campaign will be more intimate and aimed at catching the hearts of the audience through personal interactions with the candidates,” Kashiwara said in a telephone interview.

Now that's setting the bar low, ano? I think if the Opposition can smoothen out some of the "gusots" at the start of their campaign, I believe it can attract 5 to 10 times that number in a townhall meeting (around 1,000 to 2,000 people, like the one in Capiz, thanks Mar!) inside a gym or auditorium.

Jon Mariano has pretty much the same reaction to Reli's comments.

And again, instead of GO calling theirs "Talakayang Bayan" (BORING!), mas maganda if the call their events "Magusap Tayo" Townhall meetings and Rallies. capture it on video and photos and post it on youtube or GO's team website (kung meron na sila). Tignan nyo yung picture sa townhall meeting ni Hillary, ang ganda ano?


UPDATE: Sabi ni Schumey sa comments section:

There is a big difference from the crowds TU and GO attract. GO's crowds are the ordinary people while TU's are the barangay officials.

Its been TU's practice, complete with their hi-tech presentation to serenade the officials sympathetic to them. Go on the other hand are speaking to the general public. Now this is the big contrast. Alam kasi ng TU na baka batuhin sila ng taumbayan, this is also the reason why they refuse to face the GO in a public debate in Plaza Miranda.

He's right. Nakalimutan kong banggitin na ang mga barangay at local officials ang mga audience ng TU, at ordinary folks naman sa GO.

Cebu Daily News
Last updated 02:14pm (Mla time) 03/05/2007

Dumaguete City - A political gathering of Team Unity senatorial candidates was disrupted Saturday night when Negros Oriental Representative Herminio Teves of the district was rushed to the hospital after he suddenly wobbled and vomitted from what he would later call indigestion.

The gathering at the Bethel Guest House here, which was attended by about 200 barangay captains and elected local officials of the 2nd district of Negros Oriental, was supposed to cap another hectic day of campaigning throughout the northern towns of the province.

The Team Unity candidates present were Mike Defensor, Edgardo Angara and Vic Magsaysay.

Ito raw ang purpose ng Pulong Sulong, according to Tito Sotto:

The barangay meetings called Pulong Sulong (Meetings for Progress) may not be enough to get good publicity for Team Unity.

The meetings kicked off in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao and the candidates were grouped into threes.

One meeting was hosted by Team Unity senatorial candidate Vicente "Tito" Sotto III and was attended by at least a hundred local officials, who are expected to spread the word from the group discussion to their voting constituents.

But even Sotto, who gained popularity as one of the hosts of the noontime show Eat Bulaga, only succeeded slightly in making the meeting in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental lively and bearable for its participants – mainly because the meeting was set at lunchtime and the place was humid.

JV Ejercito disagreed German's claim na pareho lang ang ginagawa nila with TU's "Pulong Sulong":

Ejercito had earlier said he would organize "town hall" meetings with sectoral and community leaders to hear complaints and issues "directly from the people."

He denied it was a copy of Team Unity's "Pulong Sulong" dialogues with local officials.

"No, we've been telling the media about our plans to have community forums as early as the start of the campaign. It's just being drowned out by all the other issues," Ejercito said.

Adel Tamano even mocked "pulong sulong" because of it's had a phoney, staged managed feel to it.

The Genuine Opposition (GO) on Friday hurled this question at the administration's Team Unity, which refused to hold debates of senatorial candidates at Plaza Miranda in Manila City.

"It is an insult to the common Filipino and to the public. They are making it appear the common people cannot understand discussions and are capable only of shouting matches," GO spokesman Adel Tamano said in Filipino during an interview on dzXL radio.

He also scored Team Unity for holding its campaigns, including its "Pulong Sulong" town hall meets, in alleged "controlled environments" and only with officials.

UPDATE: Talk to masa, Chiz tells Unity

GENUINE Opposition candidate House Minority Leader Francis Escudero yesterday criticized the campaign strategy of Team Unity, which relies on local government officials to deliver the votes.

In a statement, Escudero challenged Team Unity to go to the people instead of allowing the LGUs to campaign for them.

He said people will vote for candidates based on their qualifications and principles.

Escudero noted that the administration believes local government officials need only tell the electorate who to vote for. But that election strategy, he noted, is a thing of the past and people now have a mind of their own.

“In contrast, we in the Genuine Opposition go directly to the people and discuss the issues,” Escudero said.

Did Manny Villar have Botox injections?

Kasi napansin ko sa mga pictures mukhang wrinkle-free at cherubic-looking siya eh. lol.

But like The Tall One, Sen. John Kerry, he too denied having botox injections to make him look younger.

Senate President Manuel Villar, who is seeking re-election as guest candidate of the opposition, was teased by Senate reporters for his dancing in his ad. The Senate media also bluntly asked Villar if he had botox to remove his wrinkles and Villar sharply said no. "That’s the truth even if lightning strikes me," Villar said.

Do we have a before and after pictures of Manny V?

UPDATE: Here's a photo of Manny Villar in 2004. In 2006. and in 2007 (here, here)

Napansin rin April Kicks yung pagbabago sa mukha ni Sen. Villar.

The Opposition's first big mistake

was choosing JV Ejercito as national campaign manager. I agree with Neal Cruz. What was the Opposition thinking?

I'd rather hear less talk from JV, and let GO's new campaign manager Serge Osmena, Chiz Escudero, Adel Tamano, or Ping Lacson articulate the issues and speak for GO more.

I want to hear less talk from Rez Cortez too. His rhetoric doesn't help the opposition much. I'd rather he work behind the scenes if he wants to make meaningful contributions to GO's campaign.

The Agreement over Kiko Pangilinan's candidacy

Late na naman ako sa usapang ito. here's my take.

Drilon last week threatened to withdraw it's support from the opposition if it drops Kiko as a candidate:

The sources said Drilon has been asking GO leaders to retain Pangilinan despite his decision to remain an independent candidate even after his adoption as guest candidate.

Drilon heads a faction of the Liberal Party of which Pangilinan is national vice chairman. The other faction is headed by Manila Mayor Lito Atienza.

"If GO would drop Kiko, the entire Liberal Party contingent would leave the opposition coalition," one of the sources said.

Although Drilon later consented to GO's plan to let Kiko go.

Sen. Francis Pangilinan has been junked by the Genuine Opposition in its senatorial slate.

Sources said Tuesday LP president Sen. Franklin Drilon finally consented to GO’s plan to get rid of Pangilinan after the latter did not show up at the coalition’s proclamation rally on Saturday.

Drilon worked for GO’s adoption of Pangilinan, vice-chairman of the LP-Drilon wing.

"Senator Drilon could not do anything. Kiko continued to shy away from the opposition. Finally, he (Drilon) told the leaders of the opposition ‘go ahead; anyway I’m not the one funding his campaign.’ So that’s it," one of the sources said.

Pero ang usapan raw ay hindi siya pwedeng palitan:

GO will violate coalition deal if Kiko replaced - LP
03/01/2007 | 01:56 PM

Liberal Party president Franklin Drilon told reporters on Thursday that if the Genuine Opposition (GO) finds a replacement for Francis “Kiko" Pangilinan in its 12-man Senate slate, this would violate the coalition agreement entered into by the two groups, radio station dzBB reported...

LP vice-president Florencio Abad said that replacing Pangilinan in the opposition slate would only “complicate" the matter.

First of all, if there's an agreement between Drilon of the Liberal Party and the Opposition over Kiko's candidacy, then the opposition should honor that agreeement. Palabra de honor. Your word is your bond. End of story. We need to honor the agreement the way Manny Villar honored his by not jumping ship (either to the admin or the "Third Farce") when Joker, Recto and Kiko were luring him away from GO.

Having only 11 candidates is not the ideal, but I'd rather have that than breaking the agreement with the Liberal party over Kiko. If the agreement is to not replace Kiko, then so be it.

Bilib rin talaga ako kela Drilon at Abad. They stood up for their partymate Kiko. That's loyalty there for you. I guess if I were in their shoe, I would have done the same thing.

But I agree also with Lito Banayo:

How does the opposition solve a problem like Kiko?

Ignore him as if he did not exist? That is difficult to do because every time they have a major rally, media would always report about the candidate who was not there. They give Kiko free media exposure just for snubbing them.

And Kiko is totally unrepentant. He flaunts his "independence" and makes political hay about not wanting to be in anybody’s company. Chiz was right in fulminating about Kiko’s attitude. "What does he think of us, lepers?" referring to a disease which used to be highly infectious. Truth is, Kiko is acting precisely like that. He does not want to be "contaminated" by the opposition. He prefers the solitary use of his wife Sharon as his one and only campaigner. He would not share his one and only precious political possession with the rest of the candidates of GO. Makiki-ambus pa nga naman sa kasikatan ni Mega, or so he preens.

There is only one sane and honorable way for the GO to treat the problem that is Kiko. And that is to drop him from their list of candidates. Never mind if they are left with eleven instead of twelve. Let the people write in their personal replacement for Kiko. It could be any of the three Kapatiran candidates, like Zosimo Paredes Jr. or Martin Bautista or Adrian Sison. It would not be right to substitute one of the three for Kiko. That would split up a well-intentioned nascent political experiment. Let the people write in their replacement for Kiko. Print sample ballots with only eleven names for senator.

Here's more: Noynoy nagbantang kakalas kung papalitan si Kiko

NAGBANTA kahapon si Genuine Opposition (GO) senatorial candidate Benigno ’Noynoy’ Aquino III na kakalas siya sa hanay ng oposisyon sakaling ipilit na lagyan ng kapalit ang tinanggal na senatorial bet na si re-electionist Senator Francis ’Kiko’ Pangilinan.

Ayon sa kuya ng kontrobersiyal na TV-host actress na si Kris Aquino, mapipilitan siyang umalis sa GO kapag naglagay ng kapalit ni Sen. Pangilinan sa senatorial line-up matapos alisin dahil sa hindi pagsipot sa nakalipas na grand proclamation rally ng oposisyon sa Plaza Miranda sa Quiapo, Manila kamakailan

Hindi rin umano siya pabor na alisin ang pa-ngalan ni Pangilinan sa mga campaign poster ng GO lalo na kung maglalagay ng kapalit dito.

“Kung papalitan nila si Kiko na aking kapartido sa Liberal Party ay mapipilitan akong kumalas sa GO,” dagdag pa ni Noynoy.

Kaugnay nito, sinabi naman ng isa sa nangungunang kandidato ng GO na si senatorial candidate Francis ’Chiz’ Escudero na maging siya ay hindi rin pabor na palitan kaagad si Pangilinan.

“Desisyon po ng Executive Committee ng GO ang tungkol kay Senator Pangilinan pero ako po ay naniniwala na ’di rin dapat punuan ang binitiwang puwesto ng kaibigan nating senador,” ani Escudero sa press conference kahapon ng umaga sa La Corona Hotel sa Lipa City.
.....
Ayon kay Escudero, kahit na tinanggal na sa GO si Pangilinan, dadalhin pa rin niya ito sa pangangampanya dahil ito ay sarili niyang desisyon.

More: JV says he will not replace Kiko

But here's the interesting part:

In the Senate, lawmakers yesterday took a dig at former Sen. Ernesto Maceda for blaming Senate President Manuel Villar, Jr. for the controversy created by the GO’s dropping of Pangilinan from its slate.

Villar himself chided Maceda, supported by Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel, Jr., saying finger-pointing at this time will bring them nowhere and will only sow division in their ranks.

Although Villar had said he does not intend to retaliate, he addressed the issue just the same.

“Id like to clarify that never did Maceda and I talk about the issue. I talked only with (former) President (Joseph) Estrada, only the two of us. That is why I’m wondering how he was able to get the information regarding my conversation with him (Estrada).

“I want to leave behind this issue. (But I’d like to point out) it’s Pangilinan’s decision and that of GO and I respect them both. As I’ve been saying in the past, Pangilinan is part of the Wednesday group and as much as possible, I would like us to be campaigning together,” he said.

Villar stressed it was GO that approached them, his Nacionalista Party (NP) and the LP and offered the idea of them aligning with the mainstream opposition, a matter, that he admitted, they were willing to undertake.

“We need not rely on others, actually or any other party as a matter of fact. When we agreed for a tie-up, this is aimed at establishing cooperation, collaboration...and expression of support to their sentiment and not to their group per se.”

Pimentel, for his part, rallied behind Villar as he urged other prominent personalities to refrain from further highlighting the issue of Pangilinan as they do not stand to gain anything in fault-finding.

I agree with Villar and Pimentel.

Another strange thing happened: the rally that was supposed to be organized by Drilon and Gov. Tupas in Iloilo city mysteriously got cancelled (for "security reasons" raw):

Being a coalition has its benefits in the sense that it gathers under one umbrella several political groups of different persuasions. But it has also its problems as was manifested in the cancellation of the Iloilo City rally last week.

The Liberal Party-Drilon wing, a member of the GO coalition, was supposed to be in charge of that rally. They have Gov. Niel Tupas, Sr., who gained national prominence a few weeks ago, when heavily armed policemen attempted to take him out of the capitol building, as their highest official there.

Opposition representative Rolex Suplico, who is nephew of Tupas, is with the breakaway LDP group of Ping Lacson.

Apparently, Sen. Frank Drilon and Tupas failed to mobilize people for the Feb. 28 rally. They had to cancel it, giving security threat as their lame excuse. To make up for the Iloilo fiasco, the LP in Roxas City, led by the LP matriarch, Judy Roxas, showed that Capiz is very much Roxas country.

Hmmm... maybe they're just sending a message. passive aggressive stuff.

Of course, the admin spinners were quick to pounce and GO's situation:

GO could at this point mean Getting Out, Unity Team deputy spokesman Tonypet Albano said Monday.

That’s because some of the candidates of the Genuine Opposition are considering leaving the team at this early stage of the campaign, Albano said.

Besides Sen. Francis Pa­ngilinan, Senate President Manuel Villar and Rep. Noynoy Aquino are also planning to leave, he said during the weekly Kapihan ng Bayan Forum in Sulo Hotel.

“Team GO is now being abandoned by its members and they are now starting to panic, the reason why they decided to make some changes on their ranks,” Albano said.

I'll have more to say later.

Failing to understand the concept of Protest Vote

De Quiros attacks the opposition for failing to comprehend the concept of a "protest vote." Sabi niya:

The opposition is not unraveling only because it never raveled in the first place. Its fundamental mistake, or the mistake of the one associated with the so-called Genuine Opposition, is not that it waited for people who were never forthcoming. It is not that it did not get the strongest candidates to man, or woman, its roster. It is not even that it made the wrong moves in the process of who to get and who to drop in its roster, though this succeeded only in fragmentizing rather than unifying the forces ranged against Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

It is simply that it never understood the concept of the protest vote.

The ingredients of the protest vote you see easily in the Philippine elections of 1971 and the American elections of last year. Both elections saw the opposition rubbing the snouts of the administration candidates in the mud. Until January this year, that was where the local elections this May seemed headed to.

There are two main ingredients in the protest vote. One is that the administration is hugely unpopular. And it is hugely unpopular because of one particular issue that has shocked the nation. In the case of the Philippine elections of 1971, that was the Plaza Miranda bombing. The grenades that exploded in the miting de avance of the Liberal Party were matched by the anger that exploded in the mind of the public, which translated into a rejection of the administration at the polls. In the case of the American elections, it was the Iraq War. With no small help from the sight of the body bags being flown back home, Americans finally woke up seething with rage at having been duped into fighting another Vietnam War. And by an American president given to outright lying.

The other ingredient in the protest vote is that the opposition offers the possibility of being the solution to the problem. In the Philippine elections of 1971, the Liberal Party candidates were first of all the victims. Except for Ninoy Aquino, they were all at Plaza Miranda when it was bombed. But more than that, they also represented the hope that they could check a madman like Marcos. In the American elections last year, the Democrats also represented, well—more than the hope—the very real possibility America could extricate itself from the quagmire of Bush’s making.

Uh huh. Well, let's talk about the US elections. What De Quiros failed to mention was that the Democrats (the Opposition) had to lose big time in 2004 first --and squander their so called "protest vote" for failing to capitalize on the American voter's (and the World's) anger towards the Iraq War--before coming back strong in 2006 to regain the House and Senate majorities.

(the dems had this idea nga na if the US allowed everybody around the world to vote in the 2004 US elections, Bush would have lost raw, LOL. that's how unpopular the war was around the world back then, they say.)

And how bad was the loss? Not only did Bush win 51% of the total votes cast (making him the first president since Bush the Elder in 1988 to win a majority of the popular vote), but republicans won across the board. It gained 4 seats in the House (to make it 230-202 Republicans after election day). And an even bigger deal was that it also gained 4 additional Senate seats (to make it a 55-44-1 Repubican Majority). One of the carcasses in the 2004 Senate race was Democratic Senate Minority leader and vocal Bush/Iraq critic Tom Daschle of South Dakota.

So much for that so called "protest vote", eh?

And how could the democrats bungle it so badly back in 2004 when most polls indicate a democrat victory and Republicans losing seats in the House and Senate?

Wasn't the anti-war rallies were at it's peak during the 2003-2004 period? Hindi ba lumabas ang mga images ng "Abu Ghraib" noong early 2004, and it was given round the clock coverage by the media? Didn't the 9/11 commission declare that there was no connection between 9/11 and Iraq? Didn't we find out around mid-2004 na wala palang WMDs sa Iraq, and Bush was forced to declare during the 2004 campaign that he would still have gone to Iraq even there's no wmds to be found?

Bush said Iraq had the ability to build weapons of mass destruction and had been deceiving weapons inspectors, who reported no sign of banned weapons in Iraq in the weeks before the invasion.

"Everybody thought they would be there. We haven't found them yet," Bush said. "But he did have the capability of making weapons. Knowing what I know today, I would have made the same decision."

And didn't the Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry promise to get the troops out of iraq within the first 6 months if becomes the next president of the US of A? Wasn't that many in the Opposition democrats wanted?

Hindi ba the democrats mantra on Iraq in 2004 was "Wrong War, Wrong Place, Wrong Time"?

And Didn't the Mainstream media do it's part in reporting the iraq War and covering the bloodshed and civilian deaths on tv and in print? Didn't Fahrenheit 9/11 won the Cannes Film Festival's best picture award and was the highest grossing documentary of all time?

So what happened? how could the Democrats opposition screw the 2004 elections so badly fuck up the so called protest vote on an unpopular war?

"What did the opposition do to improve the economy, to lessen hunger, to lower the poverty level?"

From Rego:

Alright, from the “top” what did the opposition do to improve the economy, to lessen hunger, to lower the poverty level, to improve the education situation….national security or just name any area where they have positive contribution the past two years. Sige nga!

I think this question about “walang nagawa” ang opposition is a stupid one. They can’t do much other than to oppose (or support) Arroyo’s policies because they’re not in power. And the House is completely under GMA’s control, so the Senate is neutralized, and the check and balance system is crippled with the admin’s EO 464 and it’s other incarnations.

It's like asking the anti-Marcos opposition kung anong nagawa nila noong panahon ni Marcos para mapaunlad ang ekonomiya, reduce poverty, promote world peace etc. etc.

The opposition’s primary goal should be to make Arroyo and her crooks accountable, and reform and depoliticize the COMELEC and military. Make the government more transparent. Retain the policies that work, and scrap the ones that need fixing and are major sources of corrupt wasteful spending (like the pork barrel system and Arroyo’s CHA CHA initiative/diversion.)

(UPDATED) COMELEC okays fake "Peter" Cayetano

From the Tribune:

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) weeded out the so-called “nuisance” senatorial candidates, trimming the senatorial bets to 37 from 79, but insisted on retaining one major “nuisance” candidate who would pose a serious problem to an opposition candidate who ranks high in surveys.

Of the 37 senatorial candidates which the Comelec included in the final list for the May 2007 polls, one candidate, Joselito “Peter” Cayetano of the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL) against whom Genuine Opposition (GO) candidate Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano has lodged a complaint in the Comelec for perjury and for his being fielded solely to destroy Alan Peter’s chances of victory in the polls, has been approved by the Comelec.

Joselito “Peter” Cayetano yesterday on television admitted that his nickname is not “Peter” but “Jojo,” and admitted further that he adopted the nickname “Peter” precisely to win more votes that would not be his, by virtue of the Cayetano name.

Sources, however, said this was a lie, since Cayetano, who lied about being a Marine engineer in his certificate of candidacy, knows that the votes that read only “Peter” or “Cayetano” will be deemed as spoiled ballots.

But he is not a nuisance candidate! Just ask Pidal, Abalos and Oliver Lozano.

In other news, the Ang Ladlad party was denied accreditation by the COMELEC.

Which led to this reaction from Manuel Buencamino:

As to Ladlad, Abalos also did not recognize a party list group with the acronym TOMA. He said drunks have no place in Congress.

And then he offered a ord of advice to Ladlad and TOMA : ” Aminin muna nila na mga bakla, tomboy at lasenggo sila.”

Before proceeding to allow the candidacy of the fake Peter Cayetano.

A bigot and a tuta of the Arroyos is in charge of the May election.

What does this say of the person who appointed him Comelec chairman?

I think Manuel is refering to this statement by the COMELEC Chairman: “Kung nais nila na seryosohin ng Comelec ang aplikasyon nila ay dapat na gawin lamang ng mga ito na lumutang at aminin sa publiko na ang mga ito ay bakla, tomboy at lasenggo.”

UPDATE: Joselito ruling an invite to more ‘nuisance’ poll bets

The Genuine Opposition (GO) yesterday hit at the recent decision made by the Com-mission on Elections (Comelec) upholding the candidacy of Joselito “Peter” Cayetano, a namesake of GO senatorial bet Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano (Taguig-Pateros), saying the ruling will encourage more “nuisance” candidates to muddle up the electoral process in the country.

House Minority Leader Francis Escudero, also a GO senatorial candidate in the May 2007 mid-term elections, expressed dismay at the ruling made by the Comelec over the weekend, saying this would certainly cause a big dilemma on the part of the “original Cayetano.”

Representative Cayetano, for his part, said he believes that the ruling of the poll body might open the floodgates for many nuisance candidates being fielded for local elective posts.

He maintained that Joselito Cayetano’s candidacy was pushed in an attempt to block his election to the Senate, as fielding a namesake will confuse the public.

The Comelec decision, Alan Peter said, would set a dangerous precedent.

“This would even encourage parties to field namesakes to confuse voters for as long as they are endorsed by a party, which is easiest to do considering the multi-party system and coalition politics in the country,” he added.

Nah. Only the admin can get away with fielding nuisance candidates. Thanks a lot COMELEC. Thanks a alot Ben Abalos. Thank you ComelecAko. Thank you James Jimenez.

UPDATE: The issue of election spoilers first came out noong Jan. 4, 2007 when the admin vehemently denied it was looking for spoiler candidates to sabotage the opposition's senatorial candidates:

MALACAÑANG yesterday described as hogwash reports that administration political operators are planning to field as candidates persons with surnames similar to those of opposition senatorial aspirants to confuse voters.

Gabriel Claudio, presidential adviser for political affairs, said the administration does not engage in such dirty tricks.

Reports said Malacañang is trying to persuade a "T. Aquino" and a "J.M. Cayetano" to run for senators to split the votes for Representatives Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III of Tarlac and Alan Peter Cayetano of Taguig-Pateros.

T. Aquino is Teodoro Aquino, whose senatorial bid got thrown out by COMELEC.

Rodrguez stressed that there is a precedent, as the Comelec had thrown out the senatorial bid of one Teodoro Aquino, who also purportedly aims to muddle the electoral chance of opposition senatorial bet Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.

“If the Comelec junked the senatorial bid of this Teodoro Aquino, why not Joselito Cayetano’s? Between the two, (Noynoy) is much better since he has a following compared to Joselito, who has none,” he said.

But Rufus, they did not do it for Noynoy, but for Tessie Aquino, who is now with the administration's slate.

(Or maybe from the admin's perspective, there's no need for nuisance candidate Teodoro anymore since Tessie's Aquino candidacy will have that spoiler-like effect on Noynoy Aquino. Ginagamit lang ng admin si Tessie, and she doesn't even know it. Poor Tessie.)


Previous:

- BongBong esposes Joselito "Peter" Cayetano as a sham KBL candidate
- Adminstration uses dirty tricks against Cayetano

DJB slams Leftist Party Listers

From Dean Bocobo:

The party list groups are not fooling anybody. Until they categorically and publicly renounce the violence of the CPP NPA, they can hardly expect sympathy from a disbelieving public who cannot accept their sophisticated and convoluted refusal to take such a simple and forthright stand. They can only expect more public apathy towards their alleged plight at the hands of the Military, which is after all, fighting a deadly communist insurgency that is also involved in all kinds of organized criminal activities like extortion, collection of revolutionary taxes, kidnapping, assassination and blackmail.

I agree with Deanie na the Lefty party list groups should publicly renounce the violence of the CPP NPA.

And you're right na most of our public is not outraged by these assassinations. Which is good news I guess for the corrupt military officials involved in these activities.

But I don't think these people are being killed because they failed to condemn or renounce the atrocities committed by the NPAs.

They're being killed because a) Arroyo sees them as a threat (after GLORIAGATE) b) the CPR policy did not do the job.

Arroyo initially didn't see these leftist groups as a threat when she was trying to get their support to oust erap back in 2000. GMA also tolerated these groups kapag nagra-rally sila during her first term (2001-2004).

Naging problematic lang sila kay Arroyo nung sumabog ang Gloriagate scandal noong 2005. hindi kasi nakuha sa CPR, kaya idinaan sa Palparan method ang pag-control sa mga grupong ito.

But I don't see the party list groups as a terrorist threat. I don't see Mr. Satur Ocampo or Teddy Casino or Lisa Masa as dangerous people. We welcomed these Lefty groups into the political process back in the 90s even tho we knew that many of them still have sympathies with the CPP/NPA.

These groups posed no problems during Erap and Ramos' time. Sure, their rallies can be annoying sometimes, pero hindi problema yan. Kasi kasama yan sa democracy natin.

IMO, Bayan Muna, Sanlakas and Gabriela are your typical lefty orgs that causes no harm if you just leave them alone and not pay too much attention to them, like what Ramos or Erap did. Erap didn't see them as a threat, so he allowed these groups to hold rallies at Mendiola, just like his predecessor Ramos (siguro dahil hindi sila insecure sa legitimacy nila, ano?)

(Hindi ang kaliwa ang nagpabagsak kay erap kundi ang military, simbahan at civil society.)

IIRC, humina rin ang lakas at "popularidad" ng NPAs during the 90s at early 2000, dahil sa a) mga terroristic activities nito b) young people prefer to join the lefty party list groups than "armed resistance" c) walang legitimacy issues ang dating presidente natin (ramos, erap).

Again, to solve our NPA problem, ito ang message ko para sa lahat.

Get tough on terrorism, without becoming monsters ourselves. We need to go after the bad guys, not our critics. Kasi kapag pinapatay mo naman yung mga student activists at mga party list critics mo sa Kaliwa, abe e, mali yan. The Military needs to be able to distinguish between the killing real terrorists (yes) and assassinating Arroyo's critics from the left (Big NO!).

Lito Lapid and son had a falling out with the Arroyos?

You know something's not right when wannabe Makati mayor candidate Sen. Lito Lapid starts making parinig re his "regrets" na hindi siya sumali sa Opposition. Maybe he knows something or is anticipating some bad news na most of us are not aware of yet. He made these following statements reported on Feb. 22, 2007:

Clark Field, Pampanga --- "Ako, gusto ko talaga sa opo-sisyon. Mahirap sa administrasyon. Wala kang ginawa kundi sumalo. Pero baka pagkatapos na ng eleksyon," ayon kay Senator Manuelito ‘Lito’ Lapid na kilalang masugid na taga-suporta at tagasunod ni Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Ang tila may himig paghihinanakit na pahayag ni Lapid sa Malacañang ay inihayag nito sa harap ni Senador Panfilo "Ping" Lacson na du-malaw sa Pampanga kahapon, kaugnay sa umano’y lantarang ipinapakita ni Pa-ngulong Arroyo na pagkiling nito sa kandidatura ng asawa ng umano’y jueteng king na si Rodolfo ‘Bong’ Pineda, na si Lubao Mayor Lilia Pineda bilang gubernatorial candidate ng administrasyon laban sa kanyang anak na si Governor Mark Lapid.

Gayunpaman, sinabi ni Lapid na sa kasalukuyan ay hindi pa siya handang sumapi sa oposisyon, at posibleng gawin niya ito pagkatapos ng eleksyon.

Kahit dehado sa endorsement ni Mrs. Arroyo at posibleng ilaglag kapalit ni Pineda bilang gubernatorial candidate ng administrasyon sa ilalim ng partidong Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (KAMPI), walang balak si Lapid na magmanikluhod o magmakaawa sa Malacañang.

Sa tagal ng panahon, naging tapat ang kanilang pamilya sa Malacañang, ayon kay Lapid kung kaya’t hahayaan nitong si Mrs. Arroyo ang magdesisyon sa gubernatorial race ng Pampanga.

Gusto mo na maging opposition? But only after the elections? Whatever. :rolleyes:

But I guess Mr. Lapid's instincts are correct re na ibabasura na sila ng mga arroyos, because the other shoe has finally dropped:

Lapids charged with graft
By: Joel de la Torre

March 03, 2007 06:29 PM Saturday

Pampanga Governor Mark Lapid
GRAFT charges were filed yesterday against Sen. Lito Lapid and his son, Pampanga Governor Mark Lapid, for alleged ghost road projects worth P11 million.

Also charged before the Office of the Ombudsman were 22 personnel of the Department of Public Works and Highways. Pampanga vice governor Joseller “Yeng” Guiao, who filed the complaint, accused the Lapids of conspiring with DPWH employees to make it appear that five infrastructure projects in five barangays have been completed. Guaio said officials of these barangays claimed no road project was finished.

Guiao said the projects were “double-funded,” meaning that the money came from the Priority Development Assistance Fund of the senator and the development fund of the governor.

The vice governor said barangays Lourdes, Mandili, and Magumbali were purportedly given more than P4 million to finish road projects, which include rehabilitation of the Mandili and Magumbali farm-to-market roads. He said 29 other barangays were reportedly given funds for road projects from 2004 to 2005 but local officials said they did not receive the money.

The projects are covered with a memorandum of agreement between the provincial government and the DPWH.

Guiao said the senator and his son made it appear that they both shelled out money from their pork barrel and development funds when in truth, these projects were either non-existent or unfinished.

So I guess the wife of the jueteng lord (and GMA kumpare) Bong Pineda will become the next governor of Pampanga, eh? CHEERS!

More: Lilia Pineda first got into the media spotlight for bribing COMELEC officials (inside maam Arroyo's La Vista home) back in 2004.

Serge Osmena is the new GO campaign manager

He's replacing JV Ejercito. I think this is good news. I'm a big fan of Sen. Serge Osmena. He's politically smart and a very capable guy.

COMELEC rejects Ang Ladlad's bid for accreditation

From the Inquirer:

Comelec denies accreditation to Ang Ladlad
By Erwin Oliva
INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines -- The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has rejected the application for accreditation as a party-list of the gay-lesbian-bisexual-transgender group Ang Ladlad (The Coming Out), its co-founder and senatorial candidate Danton Remoto said Wednesday.

The resolution, issued by the Comelec’s second division composed of commissioners Rene Sarmiento, Florentino Tuason Jr. and Nicodemo Ferrer, said: “Contrary to petitioner’s [Ang Ladlad] allegation in its petition that its membership is national in scope, reports from our field offices reveal that it doesn’t exist in most regions in the country,”

Remoto, who was at the Comelec early Wednesday afternoon to meet Sarmiento, said he is filing a petition for reconsideration within five days.

He dismissed the Comelec’s contention that Ang Ladlad does not have a nationwide presence.

“Did they go the houses of our members to check? ‘Yan ang tanong ko [That is my question]. We paid P3,050 as filing and research fees. Sa’n ‘to napunta [Where did this go]?” he said.

Kalokohan ito. Anybody can see that this is BS. Arroyo's COMELEC should be strongly criticized for rejecting the application of Ang Ladlad for no damn good reason (other than to not anger the admin's CBCP base, I guess). Nung Sept. 2006 pa nag-apply ang "Ang Ladlad" as a party list group.

More: And Danton Remoto fails to file his candidacy for Senator.

UPDATE: "No place for drunks, homosexuals"

SAYING drunkards have no place in Congress, Commission on Elections Chairman Benjamin Abalos, Sr. yesterday said the poll body has refused to accredit Toma as a party-list organization.

Abalos said the group failed to show proof that it has members nationwide.

The Comelec earlier denied party-list accreditation to Ang Ladlad, a group of gays and lesbians.

Abalos told the Kapihan sa Sulo breakfast forum that both Toma and Ang Ladlad failed to present evidence that they have members nationwide.

“Open pa rin naman tayo dyan as long as they can show proofs na ganun kalaki ang bilang nila,” he told reporters.

“Kung nais nila na seryosohin ng Comelec ang aplikasyon nila ay dapat na gawin lamang ng mga ito na lumutang at aminin sa publiko na ang mga ito ay bakla, tomboy at lasenggo,” Abalos said.

Why just limit the debate to the Economy?

I have no problems re the debate on the economy. But why limit it to only that issue. Ang dami daming isyu na pwedeng pag-usapan, katulad ng pandaraya, Arroyo's legitimacy issues, the massive cheating and corruption scandals like the PHILHEALTH and Fertilizer funds issue, Arroyo's attempt to abolish the Senate (defang it via EO 464) and "fix" our constitution via CON ASS and PI, yung political assassinations na ginagawa sa mga maka-kaliwang kritiko ni GMA, yung Jose Pidal issue etc.

Sabi ni Lacson:

In Agoo, La Union, Panfilo Lacson said he wants the debate to cover "all issues" instead of just the economy.

Lacson told a press conference that the debate should be freewheeling and include graft and corruption, as well as on Malacañang’s attempts to muzzle Congress’ oversight functions.

"Why limit ourselves to the economy? Let’s debate on issues such as the fertilizer scam, the telecom scam, Jose Pidal accounts, Macapagal boulevard, everything. The administration cannot just challenge the opposition to a debate then limit it to the economy. We are prepared to debate with them, with their candidates on legislation, on oversight functions," he said.

Yeah, it doesn't make sense to just limit the debate on the economy when there are so many issues that are plusses for the Opposition.

More:

Lacson said he will ask administration candidates why they are running under an administration that wants the Senate scrapped.

"It doesn’t make sense. They are fooling the people, while we want to make the Senate stand as an independent institution as we have been doing since the Garci scandal broke out," he said.

He said he will ask Malacañang why it withholds the pork barrel funds of pro-impeachment lawmakers while pouring funds to those who voted against it.

"They have no right over those funds because those funds belong to the people. They treat government funds like they were personal funds," he said. "That is the kind of government, the kind of governance we should reject in the coming election."