Opposition bets shift strategy

The Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino-Puwersa ng Masa has apparently shifted its strategy in the wake of the arrest of former President Joseph Estrada.

In their very first campaign since the arrest of Estrada last Wednesday, the opposition senatorial candidates continually harped on the alleged injustice committed against the disgraced president by the Arroyo administration, instead of concentrating on their legislative agenda.

The opposition candidates joined campaign rallies in General Mariano Alvarez (GMA), Dasmariñas and Cavite City, all in Cavite province, in the company of Vice Gov. Junvic Remulla and congressional candidate Gilbert Remulla.

There, re-electionist Senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Miriam Defensor Santiago, and candidate Jamby Madrigal all urged Cavite voters to "correct the wrong" done on Estrada by voting 13-0 for the opposition.

Former Senate President Edgardo Angara was the only opposition candidate who did not dwell lengthily on Estrada’s "travails." While Angara did lament Estrada’s "irregular arrest" and the significance of the EDSA rally, he spoke more of his legislative record and of what he intends to do once he goes back to the Senate.

"There is no need to accentuate the arrest of Erap. That is well-known already," Angara explained.

The opposition goes tomorrow to Tarlac, home province of former President Corazon Aquino who is one of the prime movers of people power II that ousted Estrada last Jan. 20.

Meanwhile, former Press Secretary Ricardo "Dong" Puno Jr. expressed confidence yesterday that the opposition would win in vote-rich Central Luzon "except in Pampanga."

The other provinces in the region are Bataan, Zambales, Bulacan, Tarlac and Nueva Ecija. In the 1998 presidential elections, Estrada got his biggest electoral margin in Nueva Ecija.

A political leader in Bataan said that residents of Balanga, Bataan, felt so strongly for the opposition that they even ripped off posters of administration candidates the moment they were pasted.

Puno said they would also win in the Solid North, home of Enrile; Southern Luzon and Mindanao, where the administration has no candidate for senator.

Earlier, former Sen. Ernesto Maceda said the opposition will win in Southern Luzon except in Batangas and Quezon.