Left seeks party for Casiño

Rep. Teodoro Casiño. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

The mainstream Left is hoping to coalesce with either the opposition United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) or the administration Liberal Party to shore up the electoral base of Bayan Muna party-list Representative Teodoro Casiño who is running for senator in 2013.

In an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Casiño said the Makabayan coalition was hoping to get one of the last four slots in UNA’s senatorial lineup. UNA was recently formed by Vice President Jejomar Binay and former President Joseph Estrada to contest next year’s polls.

Makabayan, short for Makabayang Koalisyon ng Mamamayan, is an aggrupation of eight progressive parties.

“We’re hoping to get a slot,” said Casiño, who added that the support of the mainstream left for the UNA senatorial ticket would be “part of the package.”

The militant lawmaker later clarified his statement in a text message.

“My preference is for PDP-Laban [a member of UNA] but we’re not closing the door to inclusion in the Liberal lineup. We can work with both camps and unite on specific issues as we had in the past. With either group, there is a lot of room for common cause,” he said.

Casiño said Makabayan was “open” to a coalition with other political parties as well.

“We’re not closing doors, it depends on issues we can work on together,” he said.

This is not the first time Makabayan is fielding a candidate for higher office. Bayan Muna Representative Satur Ocampo and Gabriela party-list Representative Liza Maza made unsuccessful runs for the Senate in 2010.

As guest senatorial candidates of the Nacionalista Party, the two only managed to receive a combined 6.7 million votes.