The so-called Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives on Thursday issued a scathing statement condemning An Waray and other groups for attacking Bayan Muna, which has been campaigning against bogus party-list organizations.
The bloc assailed An Waray’s purported threat to withdraw its support for the senatorial bid of Bayan Muna Representative Teodoro Casiño, who is running under the Makabayan banner in next year’s elections.
“The threat of An Waray to withdraw support to the planned senatorial bid by Representative Teddy Casiño further shows its lack of comprehension of the issues involved,” Makabayan said in a statement. “While Representative Casiño welcomes the support of any group that wishes to place a representative of the poor in the Senate, he cannot accede to the unprincipled request to criticize the legitimate issues raised by election watchdog Kontra Daya.”
An Waray Rep. Florencio Noel denied that his group was no longer backing Casiño. But he expressed disappointment over what he called Casiño’s failure to rein in his followers, who were allegedly campaigning against An Waray.
“Now that the problem is escalating, what support can he expect from us? Besides, they said we were not (a) legitimate (party-list group) anyway,” he said in Filipino in a phone interview.
But Noel left the door open to a possible reconciliation with Casiño. “I like the guy. He’s good, he’s intelligent. I should see more of what I saw in him before, before I say that I’m withdrawing my support or not,” he said.
Noel said the problem began around two weeks ago when he learned that Bayan Muna members were campaigning against An Waray in Region 8, his group’s bailiwick.
He also denounced a parallel petition in the Commission on Elections seeking to disqualify his group. Leading the campaign is Kontra Daya, an affiliate of Bayan Muna.
In response, An Waray and at least 14 other party-list groups shut down their offices at the Batasang Pambansa. They instructed those seeking assistance to proceed to Bayan Muna.
“Resorting to childish antics, specifically shutting down their offices and refusing to provide assistance to the intended beneficiaries of the public funds that were given them by tax payers, is intended to divert the issues raised by Kontra Daya and affirmed by the Comelec,” Makabayan said.
“It only shows that An-Waray, Ako Bicol and Anad are bereft of any argument against a sincere effort by the public to cleanse the party-list system of party-list groups created by the rich and powerful to get seats in Congress at the expense of the poor and powerless.”