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SEVEN
senatorial candidates made it to the list of the Trade
Union Congress of the Philippines’ (TUCP) list because
their political platforms include pro- labor programs.
The
labor center, which has more than 20 federations
nationwide, fielded questionnaires to the senatorial
candidates to determine who among them would likely
promote legislative programs to improve the living
condition of workers.
The
senatorial candidates who made it to the TUCP list
include Miguel Zubiri, Mike Defensor, Prospero Pichay,
Edgardo Angara and Cesar Montano of Team Unity and Loren
Legarda and Manny Villar of the Genuine Opposition.
TUCP
spokesman Alex Aguilar said the decision was made based
on an assessment of the previous performance of the
senatorial bets and their political platforms that
consistently demonstrate solidarity with workers.
Aguilar
said: “The TUCP believes that the victory of these
candidates will facilitate the passage of pro-labor
policies. Their win in the election will benefit
millions of Filipino workers here and abroad.”
The TUCP,
which is also running under the party-list system in
next week’s elections earlier sent a questionnaire to
senatorial candidates to ask for their stand on major
labor issues including contractualization, wage
increase, skills development and housing.
The
answers of the senatorial candidates were graded based
on the labor friendliness scale, said Aguilar.
The
presidential ambition of certain candidates of the
so-called Genuine Opposition triggered the rampant
junking within its ranks, a TU senatorial candidate
charged Sunday.
Gov.
Luis “Chavit” Singson of Ilocos Sur predicted that this
widespread junking in GO, as confirmed by one of its
leading bets, reelectionist Sen. Panfilo Lacson, will
lead to the early collapse of the alliance and in turn
spell the big win for Team Unity on May 14.
“As
we’ve been saying before, an alliance formed by selfish
individuals who only have their personal interests at
heart is bound to fall to pieces,” Singson said.
Singson
was reacting to reports about Lacson taking issue with
the move by his fellow opposition bet to remove his name
and those of three other GO candidates in a batch of
sample ballots to be distributed in vote-rich Pangasinan.
Lacson
had complained that he and fellow GO bets Manuel Villar
and Francis Escudero were excluded from the said sample
ballots.
Singson
said this junking spree could be traced to the
respective bids of some GO candidates to land on the top
three slots in the senatorial race, which would help
boost their chances in the 2010 presidential elections.
Lacson
and Villar are believed to be preparing for the
presidential race in 2010, while Escudero is reportedly
being groomed to be the running mate of Sen. Manuel
Roxas II.
Another
GO candidate who is reportedly entertaining presidential
aspirations is former senator Loren Legarda, who has
consistently topped the surveys for this year’s
senatorial race.
Villar
earlier claimed to have seen sample ballots in General
Santos City bearing only the name of Legarda.
Lacson
himself had violated the party stand by publicly
announcing earlier that he will help campaign for former
senator Gregorio Honasan and Kapatiran bet Zosimo
Paredes, who are both running for the Senate in the May
14 midterm local and national elections. Honasan and
Paredes are Lacson’s classmates in the Philippine
Military Academy, Class of 1971.
Meanwhile, Legarda emerged anew as the most-trusted
public figure in the country today based on the latest
Pulse Asia survey conducted from April 21 to 25
nationwide.
Legarda
garnered 65 percent of the preference votes in the
awareness and trust ratings survey conducted by the
independent pollster among 1,800 respondents.
Legarda
also topped the Pulse Asia senatorial survey held on the
same dates with 59.6 percent of the votes.
With
exactly seven days to go before the elections,
administration senatorial candidates have proclaimed
that
Mindanao is their territory and even boasted that some cities, towns and even
provinces on the island will go 12-0 against the
candidates of the opposition.
TU
senatorial candidate Juan Miguel Zubiri, Tito Sotto III,
Tessie Aquino Oreta, Joker Arroyo, Michael Defensor,
Jamalul Kiram, Vicente Magsaysay, Cesar Montano, Edgardo
Angara, Prospero Pichay Jr. and Ralph Recto have all
declared that Mindanao is the bailiwick of the
administration following their campaign sorties in
Regions IX and X that ended in Cagayan de Oro City over
the weekend.
“There
is no doubt that Mindanao belongs to Team Unity, and we
even believe that some areas like in Lanao del Norte,
certain parts of Maguindanao, the Autonomous Region of
Muslim Mindanao and even Caraga, would go for a 12-0
vote,” said Zubiri, who disclosed admissions of local
officials that their areas have been benefiting from the
Arroyo administration through projects.
This, as
Pichay disclosed that Gingoog City Mayor Ruthie Guingona,
wife of former vice president Teofisto Guingona, who is
considered as one of the leaders of the opposition, has
already switched sides and is campaigning for the TU.
“Ruthie
is carrying Team Unity. She’s with the LDP [Laban ng
Demokratikong Pilipino] and is aligned with Gov. Oscar
Moreno,” he said.
Moreno,
governor of Misamis Oriental, confirmed Pichay’s story.
He said
that Guingona, who is running for reelection, has even
helped organize a TU senatorial rally and was even
proclaimed by no less than Angara.
Legarda
at the same time denied that she was the one being
referred to by Lacson as the fellow GO bet who junked
him, Villar and Francis Escudero.
“My
conscience is clear, my heart is pure . . .” Legarda
said when asked for her reaction after her name was
dragged into the junking issue. (With R. Acosta, J.
Cadacio and C. Mocon) |
