Unsa man ang labing maayo — ang daan o ang bag-o?

Malacañang and Team Unity conceded yesterday the senatorial race to the opposition, saying the fight now has narrowed down to who between TU and Genuine Opposition bets will make it to the “Magic Six,” based on initial results of the elections last Monday.

Re-electionist Sen. Edgardo Angara said the leading “6-5-1” or “6-4-2” bets could either be from GO or TU. He said his local leaders from all over the country had reported that this was the trend of the counting.

“I believe it’s a tight race and it is too early to make a conclusion. Any judgment at this point is premature,” Angara said in a telephone interview.

“Given this situation, we should withhold any statements that would prove any side and help create an atmosphere of sobriety rather than panic,” he stressed.

TU officials lament GO’s early assertions that the results of the elections showed massive rejection of the Arroyo administration.

“We must remember that we are electing only half of the Senate, while the majority of the congressional and local candidates of the administration are ready to be proclaimed winners,” he said.

The TU said aside from Angara, Joker Arroyo, Ralph Recto and Juan Miguel Zubiri, other administration candidates showing strongly and could make it to the Magic Six were Vicente Sotto III, Michael Defensor and Prospero Pichay.

Meanwhile, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said that he sees a 6-5-1 result in the senatorial race, with the majority going to either the opposition or the administration.

With such a scenario confronting the administration, Malacañang has started to prepare its strategy on how to get the Senate to cooperate in moving forward its legislative agenda.

Ermita said that the President will work to get the cooperation of everybody in the executive, judicial and legislative branches, particularly the two chambers of Congress.

“If the Senate happens to be a majority (opposition) for whatever reason after the election, then definitely the President will have to reach out to them and appeal to their sense of justice, sense of patriotism to cooperate with the Executive branch in coming up with legislation that will improve the condition of our people.”  – Aurea Calica, Marvin Sy