‘Team Unity not fulfilling vow to keep campaign issue-oriented’

The administration has failed to live up to its commitment to keep the campaign "issues-oriented," the Genuine Opposition (GO) said yesterday.

Lawyer Adel Tamano, GO spokesman, said attempts to question the eligibility of opposition senatorial candidate Alan Peter Cayetano was an indication that the administration will do everything to ensure victory.

"We want to comment on the dirty tricks happening now," he said.

"It is so apparent that the administration is throwing the kitchen sink at Alan Peter Cayetano…. They don’t want a strong anti-corruption guy (to get elected) in the Senate."

Tamano said Team Unity has an "unrelenting drive to destroy the integrity of opposition candidates."

"Showing desperation at this early stage only makes us more confident that the voting public will go with the opposition come May 2007 since we are keeping our end of the bargain to keep this campaign focused on issues that affect the entire country," he said.

Tamano laughed off claims of Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez that he would look into reports that Cayetano holds an Alien Certificate of Registration.

"With all the resources at its disposal, the government chooses to focus on one aspect of this issue while completely ignoring Alan’s own clarification that he is Filipino under the principle of jus soli for being born in the Philippines, and jus sanguines for having been born to a full-blooded Filipino father," he said.

The Supreme Court had ruled in the case of former Makati vice mayor Edu Manzano that he was qualified to run for public office although he had dual citizenship, he added.

Tamano cautioned the handlers of Team GMA that their tactic of filing disqualification cases against opposition candidates could boomerang.

"They have fielded another candidate with the same name," he said. "All the dirty tricks coming out. We want to warn this administration…this is what happened in the FPJ campaign."