By Jess Diaz
The Philippine Star
MANILA, Philippines – Congressmen-allies of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo backtracked yesterday on their decision to mount a “frontal attack” on the Aquino administration.
House Minority Leader Edcel Lagman, who chairs the opposition Lakas party, said nothing would change in their group’s “critical cooperation with the Aquino administration for the national interest.”
Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr., Lakas party president, yesterday denied giving marching orders to party members to go on a full offensive against the Aquino administration.
In a statement, Revilla said that the party “remains an ally of the current administration in all its efforts to alleviate every Filipino’s living condition, eradicate corruption in the government and improve the country’s economic situation while continuing to play its role as a check and balance.”
Surigao del Norte Rep. Jose Aquino II, the party’s secretary-general, said Lakas has a “higher duty to the Filipino people to support government policies that hasten economic development and intensify efforts to fight poverty and corruption.”
“(Lakas) is prepared and willing to cooperate with the administration on these policies as a matter of duty. But we will do it responsibly. And that means Lakas-Kampi will be vigilant and ready to criticize or denounce any backsliding by the administration when necessary,” he said.
He said the country achieved unprecedented economic growth under the Arroyo presidency “not through political confrontation but through the power of alliances and national consensus.”
He added that Lakas, as the new opposition party, “remains committed to this sure and tested path.”
Lagman and Aquino did not say anything about the statements made on Thursday by their Lakas colleague Rep. Danilo Suarez of Quezon.
Suarez revealed in a Quezon City news forum that a small group of party leaders met last Monday and “agreed not to be docile, supportive and constructive anymore.”
“We will go on the offensive and criticize this administration frontally. That was the marching order,” he said.
When asked if the order came from Mrs. Arroyo, the titular head of Lakas, Suarez answered, “No, not from GMA. It came from our party president (Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr.).”
Mrs. Arroyo, Revilla and Lagman attended the meeting. The two others who were there were Suarez and another close Arroyo ally, Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez.
Lakas executive director Ray Roquero told The STAR yesterday that as far as he knew, only the five party leaders met on Monday.
Revilla denied that mounting a frontal attack against the Aquino administration was discussed in the meeting. It’s not the time for bickering and confrontation, he said.
Suarez said the decision was prompted by the impeachment of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez and the filing of charges against Mrs. Arroyo’s eldest son Juan Miguel or Mikey, and former Surigao del Sur congressman and Local Water Utilities Administration chairman Prospero Pichay Jr.
“We felt that this administration has ordered a witch-hunt against us, that they will charge us one after the other until they finish us all off. We have to fight back,” he said.
“After them (Gutierrez, Mikey and Pichay), who will be the next targets among us?” he said.
Other colleagues of Suarez in the opposition also distanced themselves from the confrontational stance that he said Lakas has taken.
“I take exception to the statement of Cong. Suarez, with all due respect to him. I don’t wish this administration to fail. In fact, I want it to succeed because the nation will succeed with it,” Davao del Sur Rep. Marc Douglas Cagas said.
On the other hand, allies of President Aquino welcomed even a shift to confrontation from critical cooperation on the part of Arroyo’s allies.
“We welcome it. As minority, that is their role. A vibrant minority is healthy for a democracy. They should be firm in their resolve,” Cavite Rep. Joseph Emilio Abaya, secretary-general of the new ruling Liberal Party, said.
Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara said, “That is really the role of the opposition in a democracy. They criticize and expose weaknesses in the incumbent administration and act as a counterweight or check on the government.”
Quezon Rep. Lorenzo Tañada III said he doubted if the opposition really has exposés on corruption as Suarez claimed.
He said he was intrigued by the “contradictory statements” of his Quezon colleague and Revilla.
“That means that Senator Revilla is not being listened to,” he said.
Another administration ally, Rep. Walden Bello of the party-list group Akbayan, said Suarez’s statements were “a desperate effort to draw public attention from the impeachment trial (of Gutierrez) and the Mikey Arroyo tax evasion case.” – With Marvin Sy
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