Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 18:21:00 11/21/2009
Filed Under: News, Politics, Elections
MANILA, Philippines—The inclusion of the Ilocos Norte Representative Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on the senatorial slate of the Nationalista Party has prompted the main faction of the Left movement to revisit the conditions for its planned alliance with NP.Militant Representatives Satur Ocampo of Bayan Muna and Liza Maza of Gabriela will meet with Senator Manuel Villar, standard-bearer of the NP, next week to address the compelling issue of what could be perceived as a political alliance between the late dictator’s son and activist lawmakers seeking seats in the Senate under the same opposition party banner.
In a series of text messages to the Inquirer, Ocampo said Bayan Muna would have to thresh out with Villar and other party leaders the issues surrounding Marcos' Kilusan ng Bagong Lipunan's alliance with NP.
Ocampo, along with his spouse former University of the Philippines journalism professor Bobbie Malay, was imprisoned by the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos under martial law.
To this day, Ocampo still bears the scar of Marcos-era repression, but he has since left the underground movement and joined the so-called parliamentary struggle in the House of Representatives.
Ocampo also disclosed that there would be "follow up talks" not just with the NP, but with its rival opposition party, the Liberal Party.
"No categorical statement for now," said Ocampo, when asked if he was still bent on joining the NP ticket. But he added, "We have been given assurance by Villar that the NP-KBL alliance will not detract from his commitment to pursue our issues involving the Marcoses. We are giving his assurance due consideration in making our decision next week."
Ocampo had said earlier that he would have to study the terms of the NP-KBL alliance.
“Should the NP-KBL alliance compromise our stand, we’ll review our impending support for MV,” he said, adding that Villar was informed that the partylist groups had non-negotiable issues with the Marcoses—compensation for human rights victims and recovery of ill-gotten wealth.
On Friday, Marcos formally joined the senatorial slate of the NP, which has also offered slots to Ocampo and Maza.
Both Villar and Marcos signed a “coalition agreement” formalizing the alliance of the two parties for the 2010 polls.
At the signing, Marcos defended the move to coalesce with Villar, saying he could work with activists "because we are not the issue."
"If we were the issue,’ he added, "then we would be on different sides. But the issues now are poverty, employment, health care, foreign relations.”
Marcos pointed out that the NP senatorial slate was composed of representatives of various political groups and sectors in society, and said he did not expect Ocampo or Maza to agree with him on every issue.
Villar justified the NP coalition with the KBL by saying that a "united front against poverty" was the answer to the societal ills which have continued to hamper development in the countryside.
Villar said the fight to defeat poverty needed all hands on deck, including even bitter rivals and personalities with divergent political persuasions.
Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view/20091121-237594/Marcos-entry-prompts-Left-to-review-alliance-with-NP
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