May 2007 elections to decide fate of Cha-cha

The cat is out of the bag, so to speak. With the chance of Charter change (Cha-cha) taking place this year already way past resurrection at this stage, the administration’s political machinery has shifted its gears to prepare for the May 2007 elections. The political strategists of President Arroyo held a caucus last week and came up with a list of names from which to draw up the tentative administration Senatorial slate.

The caucus was attended by the executive council of the administration coalition composed of representatives of party leaders from the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats, Kabalikat ng Mamamayang Pilipino (KAMPI), Liberal Party (LP), Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), Partido Demokratiko-Sosyalista ng Pilipinas (PSDP). To date, the Palace still considers the Nacionalista Party (NP) as part of the Arroyo coalition.

The Senatoriables were screened as to who among them fit the basic criteria to join the administration slate that President Arroyo would support in next year’s elections. Offhand, the basic criteria to qualify in the administration’s Senate ticket include winnability, acceptability to the coalition, previous and prospective support to the programs of the Arroyo administration, and support for Cha-cha.

The Palace have been hard put in keeping under wraps their preparations for the May 2007 elections. This is simply because the final push for Cha-cha is not yet over as far as certain Palace officials are concerned. They were especially emboldened after President Arroyo declared last week she would press on with Cha-cha initiatives in line with her administration’s agenda to pursue constitutional reforms.

The idea is to keep the Cha-cha engines going even after administration lawmakers led by Speaker Jose de Venecia put on hold their controversial constituent assembly (con-ass) resolution as the mode to amend the country’s 1987 Constitution. The most vocal opponents of con-ass have been de-fanged after De Venecia gave in to their proposed elective constitutional convention (Con-con) mode.

In the meantime, Sigaw ng Bayan leaders are now deep in their newest signature gathering campaign to launch a second people’s initiative to specifically call for the shift to a unicameral legislature. The Sigaw proposal got a second wind after the Supreme Court (SC) ruled that the law was sufficient to carry out people’s initiative to amend a specific provision of the Constitution, but not to revise many provisions of the Charter.

As I’ve gathered, the Palace political strategists have included in their tentative "Senatorial wannabes" those whose names came out in the latest Palace in-house survey.

From the Cabinet and other Executive Department offices, those in the tentative list include Presidential Chief of Staff Michael Defensor (LP), Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Angelo Reyes, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez (NP), Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman Bayani Fernando, National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales (PDSP), and actor-politician Edu Manzano, head of the Optical Media Board.

From Congress, those being eyed to run for senator are Reps. Juan Miguel Zubiri (Lakas, Bukidnon), Robert Ace Barbers (Lakas, Surigao del Norte); Luis Villafuerte (KAMPI, Camarines Sur), and Rodolfo Antonino (KAMPI, Nueva Ecija).

From the ranks of re-electionist Senators, Senate President Manuel Villar, who is the NP president, and his fellow re-electionist Senators Ralph, a.k.a. ‘Mr. Vilma Santos’ Recto (NP), and Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan who belongs to the LP wing headed by Sen. Frank Drilon are being eyed. If he is convinced to run for re-election, Sen. Joker Arroyo, who ran as Lakas independent during the May 2001 Senate race, is also being wooed to join the administration’s Senatorial ticket next year. Arroyo, Villar, Pangilinan, and Recto ran and won under the Arroyo Senate ticket, known in the May 2001 election as the People Power Coalition (PPC).

So far, the all-male Senatorial candidates would have a possible muse in the person of TV personality Cory Quirino. But nothing is final yet at this stage. The Palace would certainly keep the Senatorial ticket in a state of flux until the final day of the filing of the certificates of candidacy, which the Commission on Elections (Comelec) set on Feb. 12, 2007. Certainly, both the administration and opposition would keep each other engaged in a seeming poker game on the final make-up of their Senatorial slate. Obviously, some of the names mentioned above also figured in the probable Senatorial lineup that former President Joseph Estrada earlier bared and whom he said he would support in next year’s elections.

There is one name though that has so far neither appeared in these tentative lists of Senatorial tickets. I‘m referring to Senator Edgardo Angara who is also a re-electionist. Sen. Angara is one politician who deserves to be elected back into office. I have seen him up close at work as a "consensus-making" lawmaker when I was still covering the Palace and the Senate. It was during his tenure as Senate president, in tandem with De Venecia, that Congress chalked up the most number of landmark reform legislations that were passed and signed into law by former President Fidel Ramos.

While other Senators are into re-election mode, incumbent Senators Panfilo Lacson, Lito Lapid and Alfredo Lim have strongly indicated their desires to run for local posts. They have until March 29, the deadline for the filing of certificates of candidacies in the local elections, to make up their minds. Fortunately for them, they can afford to return to the Senate and finish their term up to June 2010 in case they lose their bids for local elective posts. This is courtesy of a "rider" provision in Republic Act (RA) 9006, or the Fair Election Act of 2001. RA 9006, signed by President Arroyo on Feb.12, 2001, specifically lifted the ban on political advertisements in order to allow candidates and political parties to use radio, TV, and print media to advertise their candidacy.

Although RA 9006 only pertains to the lifting of the ban on political advertisements, the previous requirement for incumbent national elective officials to resign from their posts if they run for a lower elective post was also removed. In other words, the repeal of Section 67 of the Omnibus Election Code clearly appears to be a mere "rider" or a clear case of political accommodation. For whose benefit? Now, we all know.

* * *

Write to [email protected]