Group calls for united 2022 slate

VICTORY IN UNITY Former Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, retired Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales and former Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario (in background pictures) lead the newpolitical coalition 1Sambayan that aims to put up a full unified slate for the 2022 national elections to ensure victory against Duterte administration candidates. —RICHARD A. REYES

A broad coalition consisting of former government officials and members of civil society organizations announced on Thursday that it would put up a “single, united democratic slate” for the 2022 elections and rally Filipinos to block the continuation of a dictatorial and authoritarian administration.

In his keynote address launching 1Sambayan, former Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, the group’s lead convener, said the coalition will lead a movement “to bring good governance to the Filipino people” against impunity, unabated corruption and failed pandemic response.

Good governance

“It is good governance, that will lift the Filipino people from poverty. It is good governance, that will bring economic development to the country, and prosperity to the Filipino people,” he said in an online video message.

The former magistrate said Filipinos should not endure another six years under an administration of President Duterte’s anointed successor.

“The Filipino people should reject all those identified with dictatorship and authoritarianism … all those responsible for, or who abet extrajudicial killings, and whose mantra is, kill, kill, kill … all those who violate human rights … all those who plundered the government,” Carpio said.

“The Filipino people should reject all those who refuse to defend and protect our national territory and sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea for these are the people who have held back the progress and development of the country,” he said.

The coconveners of 1Sambayan include retired Associate Justice Conchita Carpio Morales who had served as Ombudsman, former Education Secretary Armin Luistro, former Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario, former Commission on Audit commissioner Heidi Mendoza and anticorruption activist Albert Alejo, who is a Catholic priest.

According to the conveners, the coalition includes “democratic forces” from a broad spectrum, from the far left such as party list group Bayan Muna and the extreme right such as Magdalo party list.

Carpio, Morales and Del Rosario have been critical of the President’s stance toward China and the maritime dispute between Manila and Beijing in which Mr. Duterte has refused to assert the July 2016 international arbitral court ruling rejecting China’s sweeping claim to the South China Sea.

Roused from retirement

Morales said she was roused from retirement by inefficiency and widespread corruption in the government, which worsened after the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country.

“We have all seen the difference in how the governments of other countries responded to the pandemic, whose leaders exude excellence and integrity,” she said.

She also cited the President’s own admission that corruption in the country was getting worse.

“How can we still manage to be indifferent? How can our conscience not be pricked into doing something for our countrymen? Have we been galvanized into the insensitivity that we cannot feel the agony of life?” she said.

1Sambayan will select candidates for president, vice president and 12 senators whom the coalition will endorse and support in next year’s national elections.

The selection process will include interviews of prospective candidates and a consensus from ordinary Filipinos, mainly through consultations and online surveys, according to former Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares.

Del Rosario was optimistic of victory for a single opposition slate backed by a united alliance of “democratic forces.”

“If we are able to do this and avoid splitting of votes, we will win,” he said.

Leni, Isko, Nancy

Carpio said they were considering Vice President Leni Robredo, Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso, Senators Nancy Binay and Grace Poe and former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV as possible candidates for president or vice president.

Robredo’s spokesperson, Barry Gutierrez, said she was “honored” to be considered as a possible candidate who would be backed by 1Sambayan.

Gutierrez said they “respect the independent process” of selection and were hopeful that it would “truly result in a greater degree of unity among democratic constituencies.”

He added, however, that the Vice President remained focused on providing help for Filipinos still struggling against the pandemic.

Robredo said last month that she would decide whether she would run for president “at the last minute,” or before the filing of certificates of candidacy in October.

Robredo, chair of the Liberal Party, said she would have to be “extremely prepared” not just for the job but for the campaign to get to Malacañang, citing lack of resources and the “thinned out” membership of the opposition party.

But if it was up to her, she would “prefer to [run] for a local post instead.”

“Many of those who know me know that I am much happier serving locally. I’m much happier being in direct contact with my constituents,” she said. “But despite that, I know I have a responsibility at the national level. Many of my supporters are calling for it. [So] that is the default choice right now.”

Palace: ‘Good luck’

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said it wasn’t time to discuss elections as the government’s focus was to “address the pandemic first, before engaging [in] politics.”

“But we could not stop them. I wish them the best. Good luck to Justice Carpio,” Roque told reporters.

Mr. Duterte, however, has himself been bringing up the 2022 polls.

During a visit to Dumaguete City last week, he teased Sen. Christopher Go, saying his longtime aide had asked him to announce that he wanted to be president. Go said it was just a joke, but added that he would reconsider if Mr. Duterte would run as his vice president.

The President also said his chief legal counsel Salvador Panelo may “make a good senator someday.”

In his statement, Carpio said the country’s economy had plunged to its worse state not only because of the health crisis but “also because of the mishandling by the present administration of the response to the pandemic.”

“Instead of focusing on effective measures to contain the pandemic and on jump-starting economic recovery, the present administration has wasted precious time and resources on Charter change, shutting down mass media, threatening businesses with cancellation of franchises, threatening the academic freedom of universities, and terrorizing legitimate dissenters with surveillance and arrests,” he said.

He urged Filipino voters to elect national leaders “who have integrity, competence, patriotism, and a vision for the country.” —WITH REPORTS FROM KRIXIA SUBINGSUBING AND LEILA B. SALAVERRIA