Exec claims politicians making a beeline to join UNA

MANILA, Philippines—The United Nationalist Alliance claimed Monday that politicians allied with the administration have started knocking on its door with avowed intentions of joining the group, but UNA’s secretary general has advised them to lie low for the meantime.

Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco. FILE PHOTO

Navotas Rep. Tobias Tiangco said declaring allegiance to UNA this early, with still two years to go before the elections, might just subject these politicians to possible retribution from the administration.

UNA is expected to field Vice President Jejomar Binay as its bet for the presidency in 2016.

“Some are already willing to transfer to UNA, but I myself told them to hold off their plans because they might become targets of the administration,” Tiangco said in a phone interview.

“Their constituents might suffer. You know what happens to those who are not considered allies…. So in the meantime, get everything you can get out of the administration for your constituents,” he added.

He said that if it were up to him, they should keep quiet about their intentions to switch allegiance until they file their certificates of candidacy in 2015. In fact, he said, he had been expecting them to come to UNA at the latest possible time.

“I didn’t expect them to come this early. My expectation was all politicians are cautious, and they will declare for us in late 2015. The fact that they’ve started talking to me this early surprised me,” he said.

According to Tiangco, those who have discussed with him the possible transfer to UNA were mostly members of Congress, and the rest were local government officials.

Those who have talked with UNA included members of the ruling Liberal Party, he said. He surmised that more politicians could seek to join UNA later, especially if they do not like their party’s standard bearer and would be forced to support this bet. He also noted that there were LP members who just joined it when the political winds were in its favor, so it would not be surprising if they would jump ship later.

Tiangco said those who have started talks with him early were doing so in order to secure their position as UNA candidate, to ensure no other rival could snatch it from them.

But he said that if these officials are deemed acceptable to the party and are gunning for posts where there are no UNA bets, they could be virtually assured of being the party’s pick even if they would formally declare their allegiance later.

“In places I can assure them I can accept them, I myself tell them we have an understanding. They don’t have to sacrifice this early. We are very understanding of their situation,” he said.

But he also said that not everybody who comes calling on UNA would necessarily be let in. The group would also take into consideration past relations with them, such as whether they had failed to deliver on promises made to the group.

Tiangco said UNA’s standard bearer was the main reason behind the politicians’ intent to transfer to UNA.

Binay, who was also a long-time Makati mayor, has declared he intends to run for the presidency in 2016.

“They like the VP. When I ask them why, they say that he understands the situation at the local level. Local officials, congressmen, mayors, they just want improvement in their districts. The improvement of Makati, they want to duplicate those things,” Tiangco said.

So far, none of the names touted to be possible contenders for the presidency in 2016 have come out to confirm their plans. The President has yet to anoint his party’s standard bearer.

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