LDP: Joker an apologist for government

The opposition Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP) hit back yesterday at Sen. Joker Arroyo who earlier criticized Sen. Edgardo Angara for claiming he was being persecuted by the government.

"The transformation of Senator Arroyo from a street parliamentarian to an apologist for the administration is most tragic," said Caga-yan de Oro City Rep. Constantino Jaraula.

This developed as Malacañang welcomed a move by the LDP dropping its policy of "critical collaboration" with the Arroyo administration.

In a statement, the LDP said Arroyo "turned a blind eye to the repressive police action on Labor Day," referring to earlier reports that policemen prevented workers from Central Luzon and Southern Tagalog provinces from reaching Manila to join protest actions.

Opposition Sen. Tessie Aquino-Oreta said the police action prompted the LDP to withdraw its offer of critical collaboration.

The statement made no mention of Arroyo’s observation that Angara had falsely claimed that policemen were out to arrest him.

Angara, president of LDP, charged that the Arroyo administration was out to suppress legitimate dissent, as indicated by purported intelligence reports naming him and Sen. Panfilo Lacson as financiers of the Labor Day rallies.

Jaraula added that Arroyo "is now in a phase of his political life that is
dominated by the urgency of convenient alliances."

He recalled that Arroyo was with then President Joseph Estrada in Davao and Cagayan de Oro cities two weeks before the senator shifted alliance and began to attack the administration, then later joined the prosecutors in the failed impeachment trial of Estrada.

Meanwhile, Malacañang said the LDP should "organize itself into a genuine, constructive and responsible opposition."

Acting Press Secretary Silvestre Afable Jr. said having a fiscalizer would be good for the people since they would get the two sides of any issue and could make an enlightened decision.

For her part, Oreta, another minority member in the Senate, called on the Arroyo administration to discard "strong-arm tactics to stifle legitimate dissent and take steps toward political unity as promised by President Arroyo in her remarks at the opening of last week’s first political summit in the country.

In her speech, the President appealed to all political parties to set aside partisanship and help promote socio-economic reforms.

"Malacañang could push unity and reconciliation only if it would tolerate and even promote an environment healthy for legitimate dissent," Oreta said.

In another development, militant labor groups hailed the LDP for

boycotting the political summit in protest of alleged suppression of the workers’ basic rights.

"Whatever may be the ulterior motives of the political opposition, the workers nonetheless commend them for highlighting the (Arroyo) regime’s attack on the freedom of assembly and speech last May 1, "the Bukluran ng Mangagagawang Pilipino (BMP) said.

BMP president Victor Briz said no other traditional political party dared voice out its protest over the alleged harassment and sabotage of the mobilization of workers and the poor.

Police and military checkpoints reportedly blocked jeepney-riding workers from the provinces bound for Metro Manila for the Labor Day events.

The BMP urged the political opposition to win the hearts and minds of the people by rejecting increases in the prices of electricity, water and fuel. — With reports from Jess Diaz, Sandy Araneta, Romel Bagares