Credible opposition - SKETCHES by Ana Marie Pamintuan

Even the administration must know that 13-0 is impossible with "kabayan" Noli de Castro consistently leading in the senatorial race. But what about the other slots?

I don’t think the May Day violence will change the sentiments of Erap loyalists about their fallen idol. But I’m not sure if the events of the past week have not affected the loyalists’ perceptions of the candidates endorsed by Joseph Estrada. There’s a TV ad proclaiming the crowd that stormed Malacañang to have been used then abandoned by their leaders. It must be effective or the protests from the opposition camp wouldn’t be so loud.

Filipinos rarely vote for a single ticket. We don’t even vote for a president and vice president from the same party. We assess candidates on their own merits, not by their party affiliation, since no one knows what the parties stand for anyway. I know people who were considering voting for two or three opposition candidates they perceived to be moderate and capable. But they changed their mind after the violence at Malacañang and Mendiola.

What definitely turns people off is violence. Greg Honasan and Ping Lacson aren’t helping their cause by becoming fugitives. The impression given by their flight is not just guilt but the possibility that they are cooking up new mischief that could lead to more violence.

If all they’re avoiding is police Senior Superintendent Reynaldo Berroya, the administration should give an assurance that the two candidates won’t see Berroya in case they are arrested and investigated. While Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile said he had no complaints about his treatment by Berroya who arrested him, the bad blood between Berroya and Lacson is well known. The presence of Berroya may taint a legitimate probe with an aura of vindictiveness – something the administration surely wants to avoid.

Anyway, Nestorio Gualberto, chief of the police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, has already announced (with a hint of irritation at Berroya) that he’s the one tasked to arrest Lacson, and that it’s the CIDG, not Berroya’s intelligence unit, that’s handling the investigation. Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes can also guarantee fair treatment for Honasan and Lacson.

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It’s ironic that Greg Honasan chairs the Senate’s peace and unification committee and his campaign slogan paints him as a proponent of peace: "Para sa kapayapaan." If the military and police remain on blue alert, it’s because Honasan is still out there, together with Lacson. Of all the personalities linked to the failed takeover of Malacañang, they are the ones whose followers have armed capability. They don’t brandish a 9mm before TV cameras, but they are perceived to be more dangerous than Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago will ever be.

And what’s happening to Senator Miriam? The text commandos should be grateful to her. With Erap becoming an object of pathos and jokes about him no longer that funny, Senator Miriam has become the nation’s biggest source of comic relief. She probably believes her tack will get her re-elected, since we love to put comedians in the Senate.

What do the moderates in the opposition have to say about their extremist allies? It’s probably too late to make a difference in the elections, but I think they should start distancing themselves from people with a dangerous tendency to burn down the house when they can’t get what they want.

If they don’t want to join the administration but have had enough of allies from the lunatic fringe, these moderates can form a third force. We need a credible opposition to provide checks and balances to any administration. When the elections are over, maybe this third force can start taking shape.

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BUZZ: Did Renato de Villa voluntarily quit for good or did he simply get the message when Malacañang announced that President Arroyo might replace him with Alberto Romulo as "little president"? And what happened to the President’s pronouncement that Joey Lina would move from interior and local government to trade and industry? The President said that because of the global economic slowdown, her administration would move away from big business ventures and focus instead on small and medium enterprises, which Lina could handle. Her allies in Makati must have clucked with disapproval. Yesterday, she decided Lina’s transfer wasn’t such a good idea and announced he was staying in interior and local government.