Ping to opposition: Unite vs unity ticket

Sen. Panfilo Lacson called on opposition leaders yesterday to close ranks and avoid being gobbled up by the administration in its effort to form a "unity team" for the May 14 elections.

Lacson said opposition lawmakers should learn from the experience of former senator John Osmeña, who joined the administration K-4 coalition’s senatorial slate in 2004 but was neglected and junked in the middle of the campaign.

"Gullibility is the favorite dish of deception. Avoid suffering the fate of former senator John Osmeña. He lost when he was eventually junked by the Arroyo administration after joining their ticket in the 2004 elections," Lacson said.

Presidential chief-of-staff Michael Defensor, who is also seeking a Senate seat, had announced that the administration is working for the possible inclusion of former senators Vicente Sotto III and Tessie Aquino Oreta in its unity ticket.

Sotto and Oreta recently resigned from the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP) and joined the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) which is allied with the administration.

Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile also resigned as chairman of the Partido ng Masang Pilipino, the party headed by deposed President Joseph Estrada, a few days before Sotto and Oreta also created a stir by joining NPC.

Enrile said that, while he was committed to support the senatorial bid of San Juan Mayor JV Estrada, a son of Estrada, and some of his colleagues in the opposition running for senator, he could not support some of the personalities chosen by the United Opposition (UNO).

Lacson reminded his colleagues in the opposition that 2007 is a banner year for all of them because the people are not satisfied with Mrs. Arroyo’s handling of the alleged corruption in government.

"We only have ourselves to blame if the administration is able to put up a credible lineup. Our lack of unity will provide the only lifeline to an already lifeless administration senatorial ticket," he said.

Meanwhile, more allies of President Arroyo in the House of Representatives have opposed the formation of a so-called unity ticket that includes former members of the opposition.

Deputy Speaker for Mindanao Gerry Salapuddin and Baguio City Rep. Mauricio Domogan joined Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay in rejecting the reported inclusion of former senators Sotto and Oreta in the administration’s senatorial slate.

In a joint statement, Salapuddin and Domogan warned the President that the inclusion of opposition turncoats in the administration ticket might cause demoralization in the ranks of the coalition as the election nears.

Salapuddin is chairman of the ruling party Lakas for his province of Basilan, while Domogan is regional Lakas chairman for Cordillera.

"The unity ticket is being pushed only by the so-called Palace bright boys, who unfortunately, do not compose the leadership of the whole coalition," they said.

The congressmen were referring to the President’s chief of staff Defensor.

Pichay, a staunch Arroyo ally, declared that, "we have no place for them (Sotto and Oreta) in the administration ticket."

He said the inclusion of the two in the slate is unfair to those who remain loyal to the President through all the crises that she had gone through since taking over from Estrada.

He warned Mrs. Arroyo that the two former senators might be "Trojan horses."

Pichay recalled that Sotto and Oreta, who supported the late actor Fernando Poe Jr., the President’s closest opponent in the May 2004 presidential elections, were among those calling for her resignation in the wake of allegations of poll fraud. - Jess Diaz