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FORMER
President Joseph Estrada on Thursday asked his son, J.V.
Ejercito, to withdraw from the senatorial race and run
instead for reelection as mayor of San Juan, Metro
Manila, a request that the latter granted.
In a
statement, the former president clarified that his son’s
earlier inclusion in the senatorial lineup of the United
Opposition was the result of UNO’s selection process
where he did not take an active role.
He said
that despite the criticisms that were thrown at him
owing to Ejercito’s inclusion in the tentative ticket
including the political dynasty hurled by former senator
Francisco Tatad, he just kept quiet because he wanted to
see the dynamics of the selection process played out to
the last minute.
The
statement said Estrada made the decision owing to his
“desire to ensure the formation of a broad, strong, and
united coalition of anti-Arroyo forces,” which prevailed
over his “paternal feelings to see his son become a
senator.”
However
Estrada clarified that his decision was not a response
to the political dynasty that was raised by some people
including Tatad as this issue had been proven by the
results of various poll surveys as a “non-issue” or a
“false issue” among the voters.
As such,
he was not calling on opposition senatorial candidates
Alan Peter Cayetano and Aquilino Pimentel III to follow
his son’s example.
This
developed as former senators Loren Legarda and Anna
Dominique Coseteng, and Liberal Party Rep. Benigno
Aquino III of Tarlac filed their certificates of
candidacy for senator with the Commission on Elections.
Legarda
was accompanied by former senator Leticia Ramos-Shahani,
the sister of former President Fidel Ramos.
Aquino
III went to the Comelec office in Intramuros, Manila,
with his mother, former President Corazon Aquino, sister
Kris and her husband James Yap.
Also
with Aquino were Sens. Franklin Drilon, Alfredo Lim,
Rodolfo Biazon, and Mar Roxas II who raised his arms to
endorse his candidacy.
Before
Legarda arrived, some of her supporters distributed
pocket calendars bearing her picture to people outside
the Comelec building, prompting some members of the
media to ask the poll body’s head of the legal
department if this is not premature campaigning.
“We
order candidates to remove their pictures, streamers,
stickers and television ads within three days of their
filing of certificates of candidacy or we will charge
them for violating Section 80 of the Omnibus Election
Code,” said Alioden Dalaig, Comelec’s legal department
head.
Other
senatorial candidates who earlier filed their COCs also
gave out pocket-sized pictures and stickers when they
formalized their candidacies. Party-list Reps. Lisa Maza
of Gabriela and Joel Villanueva of Cibac also submitted
their COCs earlier in the morning.
Leaders
of the ruling majority coalition on Thursday vowed to
give the United Opposition (UNO) a run for its money in
the race to win the 12 senatorial seats up for grabs in
the May elections.
In a
joint statement, Lakas Reps. Antonio Cuenco of Cebu City
and Edwin Uy of Isabela said the well-oiled
administration coalition, once fully mobilized, would
ensure the victory of its candidates, notwithstanding
their poor showing in the popularity surveys.
With
this, Cuenco and Uy advised the opposition not to be
overconfident because surveys will not make opposition
candidates in the actual polls. They said the opposition
should not be presuming it will win the polls on the
basis of surveys.
UNO, on
the other hand, said it expects the candidates belonging
to the grand coalition of opposition parties to further
solidify their hold on the top 12 slots once the
coalition begins its issues-based campaign that will
transform the May polls into a referendum on the
administration of President Arroyo.
Makati
Mayor and UNO president Jejomar Binay said that once the
campaign starts, the people will be able to clearly
distinguish the real opposition candidates from the
candidates of Mrs. Arroyo.
“The
coalition candidates are firm in their commitment to
defend the independence of the Senate, fight for the
Constitution, stop political killings, and work for
equitable economic growth,” Binay said.
In
contrast, the candidates of Arroyo want to abolish the
Senate and amend the Constitution in order to extend her
term in office. Arroyo’s senatorial bets, he added, have
also been silent on the issue of political killings and
human-rights violations under her watch. (With C.
Jimenez, B. Cordero and J. Cadacio) |
