MANILA, Philippines -- Uniting the opposition alone will not ensure “genuine reforms and meaningful change” and will only give people false hopes, independent Senator Francis Pagnilinan said Thursday.
“Uniting the opposition alone is not enough to ensure genuine reforms and meaningful change,” Pangilinan said, reacting to a call by Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. for a national convention of different opposition parties to choose a single standard bearer and a common slate for the 2010 general elections.
“Unity for what purpose? To simply defeat the administration?” Pangilinan asked.
“Pagkakaisa para sa anong layunin? Kung para talunin lamang ang administrasyon, hindi ito sapat [Unity to what purpose? If it is only to defeat the administration, this will not be enough],” he said in a statement.
“Tinalo na ng oposisyon ang administrasyon noong nakaraang eleksyon [2007], ngunit ano ang nangyari? Nagkanya-kanya rin ang mga nasa oposisyon dahil sa mga makasariling ambisyon [The opposition already defeated the administration in the last election, but what happened? Those in the opposition went their separate ways because of selfish ambition],” he pointed out.
“Ganun din ang mangyayari sa 2010 kung walang basehan na nakaugat sa tunay na reporma ang pagkakaisa [The same thing will happen in 2010 if the unity has no basis rooted in genuine reform],” he said.
Pangilinan said there must be more to elections than merely forming tickets and challenging incumbent officials.
“We have done that over and over again since God knows when, and yet look at where we are today,” he said.
More than two decades after the 1986 popular uprising credited with restoring democracy to the country after 14 years of dictatorship, Pangilinan said the country still faces the old issues of corruption, human rights violations, poverty and unemployment.
“Uniting the opposition will only give our people false hopes” he said. “What the country needs is a genuine political alternative based on a record of service, of integrity and principles. That’s the way out of the political mess we are in.”
