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Monday, December 08, 2003
Kintanar: KNP: It’s FPJ in 2004
By JUNE KINTANAR
It’s now official. Fernando Poe Jr. is the candidate not of LDP alone or of any other individual opposition party but of the united opposition, which is now known as Koalisiyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP), composed of LDP, PDP-Laban and Puwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP).
Now more then ever I’m convinced that FPJ has better and wiser political advisers than Sen. Panfilo Lacson. By submitting himself to the united opposition’s selection process, he showed political maturity. On the other hand, Lacson, by relying on a handful of supporters in the LDP, appeared exactly the opposite: amateurish and clumsy.
In the first place, what did Lacson intend to gain by allowing himself to be proclaimed by a few LDP recalcitrant members at a time when opposition parties were already forging a united opposition?
With the formation of the KNP, Lacson should know that the opposition parties have in effect lost their individual identities.
Being proclaimed, therefore, by the LDP, or much more so by just a few “insurgents,” is not only funny but irrelevant and without effect.
If Lacson were serious in his political plans and played the game intelligently, he should have placed himself under and within the jurisdiction of Johnny Enrile’s selection committee. In that way, he should have at least given Enrile and company some headache, and FPJ, perhaps, a run for his money.
But he opted to play the game outside the baseline and this prompted Enrile to say their task is “inutile” since there’s no one else to “select” but PFJ, Lacson’s only rival for the nomination.
So, there you have it. Lacson actually lost the game by default. And, as Enrile said, there’s nothing they can do but declare FPJ as the choice of the united opposition.
Now hurting from the technical defeat, accusing LDP president Sen. Ed Angara of several party violations will not help Lacson and company any. Their accusation that Angara is actually striking a deal with Malacañang and will eventually support the candidacy of President Gloria Arroyo next year defies all logic. Angara was correct when he said it’s “laughable.”
For doing something “laughable” Lacson and company, indeed, deserve to be sanctioned by the party. As reports said, Rep. Butch Aquino, LDP secretary-general, for one was forced to take a leave of absence and not intervene in the party’s activities.
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In Cebu it’s the administration party Lakas-CMD that appears to be in trouble. The latest decision of the party’s so-called arbitration committee has brought forth more problems than solutions.
The tandem of Vice Gov. John-john Osmeña and LMP-Cebu president Celestino “Tining” Martinez III has disappointed a lot of people. Sen. Sonny Osmeña, John-john’s father, has never relished the idea of John-john running for governor. The choice of Sonny is that his son will run for congressman in the first district against the Gullases.
On the other hand, there’s no way Lakas-CMD can persuade Tining to run for vice governor. The Martinez family is hard put on fielding Tining for reelection as mayor of Bogo. It would be unbelievable that the Martinezes will abandon Bogo, the seat of their political bailiwick in the fourth district.
(December 8, 2003 issue)
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