Palace: Opposition raiding merged Lakas-Kampi

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang confirmed yesterday that members of the opposition are raiding the ranks of the administration, particularly at the local level, now that the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats and Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi) have merged into one party.

Presidential adviser on political affairs Gabriel Claudio said some elements of the opposition, including some “presidential wannabes” are “trying to do some piracy, some party raiding with Lakas-Kampi.”

He said the recruitment has started at the local level, particularly the mayors of some municipalities.

“But these efforts have time and again been foiled and I don’t think they will be successful,” Claudio said.

Asked to identify the presidential wannabe who is raiding the ranks of the administration, Claudio said it is a senator who is currently faced with a lot of troubles.

“I will not name the person but all I can say is that he should just address the problems he is facing in the Senate because he is taking a beating there,” Claudio said in Filipino.

“He should probably concentrate on that because he has a lot of problems. He should spend more time in the Senate than in the field trying to pirate the legitimate members of the party,” he added.

Claudio said that what the Senator is doing is an act of hostility, which he said was not warranted since the administration is not even treating him as an enemy.

While he did not name the Senator, it was apparent that Claudio was referring to Senator Manuel Villar Jr.

Villar had declared his bid for the presidency early on and has been identified with the opposition.

He is currently in the thick of a fight for survival as a member of the Senate as his colleagues have ganged up on him, armed with allegations of impropriety.

The Senate ethics committee was convened and has started investigating what started out to be the insertions allegedly made by Villar in the 2009 national budget for a road project. – Dennis Carcamo