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THE
surprise endorsement by Genuine Opposition bet Sen.
Panfilo Lacson of two non-GO teammates has confirmed
reports of larges–scale junking in the opposition, the
administration team said.
Lacson
earlier announced that he will campaign for former
senator Gregorio Honasan and Zosimo Paredes, who are
both running for the Senate in the May 14 elections.
Lacson,
Honasan and Paredes are members of the Philippine
Military Academy Class 1971. Honasan is running as an
independent while Paredes is with the Kapatiran Party.
Lacson
had shrugged off speculations that he might get into
trouble with GO for his statement, saying he will just
ask voters to vote for his two “mistah” at the PMA.
GO,
meanwhile, is starting to suspect that there was
really a deal in exchange for the temporary liberty
given to Honasan as he is now singing a different tune
on the “Hello Garci” controversy and the legitimacy of
President Arroyo.
On
Friday Makati Regional Trial Court issued a release
order for Honasan, 59, for his alleged involvement in
the failed Oakwood mutiny in 2003. He went into hiding
for nine months and was arrested last November in a
subdivision in Quezon City.
Honasan
said he is no longer convinced that the “Hello Garci”
tape is genuine.
“I do
not have all the information. I don’t want to risk
myself . . . tinatanong ako if I’m convinced about the
validity of the so-called Hello Garci tape? No!” Honasan
said.
Honasan
also admitted on television that he harbors ill feelings
with the opposition after he was not included on the GO
lineup.
“What do
you do when you’re confined tapos drinop ka from the
slate after being identified for so many years with the
legal opposition?” Honasan said.
Honasan
criticized the opposition for not supporting him when he
was guarding the vote of the late actor Fernando Poe Jr.
(FPJ), who was the opposition’s candidate for president
in 2004.
However,
GO expressed doubts over the flipflopping of Honasan.
“Athough
we want him to give the benefit of the doubt, parang you
feel a little bit suspicious na was there some kind of
agreement so they [government leaders] set him free?” GO
spokesman Adel Tamano said.
Honasan,
meanwhile when asked why he is no longer that feisty,
replied: “I will not talk tough against anybody, I will
not attack personalities whatever the interpretation is
. . . even if I win or lose.”
Tamano
said: “Effectively, he [Honasan] is really cutting his
ties with us. Initially I was stunned, but now that I
think about it, I understand where he is coming from.”
A
proadministration congressman on Wednesday doubted the
sincerity of Honasan’s statement that he is now a
“changed man,” saying the latter should match his words
with action to make the people believe that he would
never again mount a coup against the government.
Nationalist People’s Coalition Rep. Douglas Cagas of
Davao del Sur said it was not enough that Honasan make a
public apology for his past deeds, which caused the
deaths of hundreds and damage to billions worth of
property, not to mention the huge backlash on the
economy of the past coup attempts that he allegedly
figured in.
Cagas,
head of the House panel to the House Electoral Tribunal,
said Honasan’s statements could also be construed as an
admission that “indeed, had something to do with earlier
coup attempts against the government.” |
