UNA urges voters: Let’s keep Senate independent

A popular President may think he’s doing everything right, which is why it’s important that there’s an opposition, even a “constructive” one, that will tell him when things are going wrong, according to the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA).

Amid President Aquino’s consistent push for a 12-0 win for his senatorial slate, candidates of the rival UNA said the independence of the Senate was at stake should the legislature be filled with his allies.

A sincere scrutiny of the budget, genuine efforts to resolve the power supply problem in Mindanao and a frank assessment of antipoverty programs are among the functions that a truly independent Senate should perform, making the presence of some sort of opposition important, several UNA senatorial candidates said.

UNA has avoided going all out against the Aquino administration and has been calling itself the “constructive opposition.” Its leaders said this meant that UNA would give praise when it was due and criticism when it was warranted.

“If [the Senate] would be filled with the President’s allies, they may not point out the wrong that’s being done,” former Sen. Ernesto Maceda, an UNA senatorial candidate, said in a phone interview.

At the “miting de avance” in Quezon City on Friday night, the President called on voters to deliver a 12-0 victory for the administration’s senatorial candidates.

A stalwart of Team PNoy on Sunday said the coalition was expecting a best-case scenario in which Nancy Binay of UNA would be the lone non-administration senatorial candidate who would make it to the Top 12.

“Right now, Nancy is sure of entering the Top 12 but the rest (of UNA) are reachable,” the Team PNoy source, who asked not to be named, said in a phone interview with the Inquirer.

Nancy is the eldest daughter of Vice President Jejomar Binay. Critics have questioned her senatorial run despite her good showing in surveys, saying that she has no experience in public service and that she is only banking on her political pedigree given her father’s popularity.

In a separate interview, Sen. Serge Osmeña, a known strategist for some Team PNoy senatorial candidates, predicted a “10-2 at best and 8-4 at worst” in favor of Team PNoy.

“I believe the experienced pollsters have conducted accurate surveys. Given a handful of percentage points, plus or minus which may be attributed to voters changing their minds and/or the undecided voters making up their minds, the results should reflect the people’s support of President Pinoy’s policies, programs and antigraft campaign,” Osmeña said in a solicited text message.

Not beholden to P-Noy

Maceda said the President’s popularity may make him think that all his actions were good or correct, even when it was not the case.

That’s why it’s vital that there be senators not beholden to him, and who would speak up about mistakes made, the senatorial candidate added.

For instance, Maceda cited Aquino’s appointment of election commissioners with questionable qualifications. “[The President] is not very careful in the case of his appointees,” he said. “Because he’s popular, he feels he can make any appointment he wants.”

One of the President’s appointees to the Commission on Elections (Comelec), former Lanao del Norte Rep. Macabangkit Lanto, was unseated from the legislature for electoral fraud.

After critics, including UNA, raised a hue and cry over the appointee’s background, the latter declined the post, allowing Malacañang to name a new Comelec commissioner.

Maceda also said it was the Senate’s role to keep a close watch on the budget proposal from Malacañang, especially since the House of Representatives is traditionally controlled by the Palace.

Lack of uproar

Juan Miguel Zubiri said there hadn’t been enough outrage from those on the President’s team over the continued lack of electricity in Mindanao.

“If that was a problem in Thailand, Indonesia or Malaysia, they would have asked for the head of the state leader. But it seems we just allow it to slide, basically,” Zubiri said over the phone.

Another matter where the lack of uproar could be noted was the release of government figures showing government failure to reduce poverty incidence despite multibillion antipoverty programs championed by the administration.

“If that happened to the previous administration, they would be the first one to shout it out. But they’ve been quite silent about it,” Zubiri said.

Media outlets

It doesn’t help, according to Zubiri, that some media outlets are apparently acting as mouthpieces of the administration and not highlighting the country’s problems.

Sen. Gregorio Honasan, for his part, said that however many UNA or Team PNoy candidates make it to the Senate, all elected legislators must remember their duty to uphold the principle of checks and balances.

“Whoever we elect to the Senate, it doesn’t matter to me anymore whether they’re Team PNoy or UNA. The issue confronting the Senate after May 13 is to go beyond partisan politics,” Honasan told the Inquirer.

“I’ve been saying all the while, consistently, that our real enemies are poverty, social injustice, homelessness and unemployment,” he added.

UNA campaign manager Toby Tiangco said the alliance’s campaign message was that the lives of the people would improve with the opposition group. This means that all Filipinos will get to benefit from the improvements of the economy.

He said the independence of the Senate was not really among the main issues of UNA.

This only cropped up because of Team PNoy’ campaign manager Sen. Franklin Drilon’s push for a 12-0 victory and of reports that the latter was seeking the Senate presidency, Tiangco said.

11-1 possible

Asked to elaborate on the statement that Nancy was a shoo-in to make it to the winning circle, the Team PNoy source said: “If we talk about an 11-1 outcome (in favor of the administration coalition), we are not discounting that possibility … . Nancy is hard to [dislodge] but the 11-1 is a goal that is within the realm of possibility.”

The source said Team PNoy was still optimistic that at least two of its three Senate candidates who have failed to land in the winning circle—Ramon Magsaysay Jr. and Risa Hontiveros—could still make it to the Top 12.

The two candidates’ entry into the Top 12, however, would also mean the displacement of two UNA candidates—Jack Enrile and JV Ejercito-Estrada—who have consistently landed within the Top 12 in surveys.

The last preelection survey on voters’ preferred senatorial candidates, released by Social Weather Stations and dated May 8, showed Binay in third to fourth places; Ejercito-Estrada in sixth to seventh places; Honasan in 12th place; Enrile in 13th place; Magsaysay, in 14th to 15th places; and Hontiveros in 16th place.

The third Team PNoy candidate, who lagged in surveys, former Sen. Jamby Madrigal was at No. 18.

In the latest Pulse Asia survey dated April 30, Binay and Ejercito-Estrada in fifth to 11th places; Enrile and Honasan in 11th to 16th places; Magsaysay and Hontiveros in 12th to 17th places; and Madrigal in 17th to 18th places.

The source said that given the “consistent result” of a 9-3 outcome favoring Team PNoy candidates in the preference surveys, “it means Jun Magsaysay has a very good chance (of entering the Top 12), even Risa. Only that Nancy is difficult to catch up with.”

“We are confident of getting the majority (of the Senate slots). It is an expectation being entertained. The trajectory of Jun Magsaysay is on the upswing based on recent surveys. We have worked hard. Even 10-2 is a fighting target,” the source added.

Sen. Francis Pangilinan, vice president for external affairs of the Liberal Party, also expressed confidence that the administration candidates would dominate the Senate race.

“By and large, it is a combination of the popularity of the individual candidates in their own right, as well as the popularity of the President. That explains why Team PNoy candidates (would) dominate the Top 12 slots,” Pangilinan said.

Magsaysay sounded most optimistic. “We look at 12 wins! True! People want to speed up the reforms for a better, graft-free administration. A sweep is an affirmation that the President is on the right path,” he said in a separate text message.