Lira Dalangin-Fernandez lira.fernandez@inquirer.net
INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—While not closing its doors yet to negotiations, militant party list groups said talks with Senator Manuel Villar of the Nacionalista Party (NP) are now in the advanced stages, while it has yet to begin with Senaor Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III of the Liberal Party (LP).Representative Satur Ocampo of Bayan Muna said that Villar is “more friendly” to the left than Aquino, the prospective standard-bearer of the LP.
Ocampo, who will seek a senatorial seat in the May 2010 election, said Villar has commented on their platform and has submitted the NP’s proposal on how they can work together.
“We will talk again and resolve additional points,” he said when interviewed at the national convention of Bayan Muna at the Bahay ng Alumni at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City Thursday.
Villar’s camp also made a statement that it is willing to accommodate in its slate Ocampo and Gabriela party list Representative Liza Maza, who will also run for the Senate.
This will be the first time that left-wing groups will support a presidential candidate in a national election, Ocampo said.
Bayan Muna and other left-wing party list groups—Gabriela, Kabataan, Anakpawis—boast of about three million vote base, Ocampo said.
Ocampo said they have sought a dialogue with Aquino weeks ago to see if they could agree on a common platform and find out if he and Maza could run under an alliance with the LP.
Ocampo said they might finally meet with Aquino next week.
He said the meeting, tentatively scheduled on November 17, was set after the intercession of former senator Wigberto Tañada. He said they have also sought the meeting with Aquino through channels, including LP stalwarts Florencio Abad, Quezon Representative Lorenzo “Erin” Tanada III and Hermie Aquino but the response was “lukewarm.”
Fellow Bayan Muna Representative Teodoro Casiño said, “We have conveyed our readiness for a meeting with Senator Aquino but it’s not reciprocated ... It seems like it’s hard to talk to someone who’s not yet ready to hold talks.”
Casino said it was important to be able to meet with Aquino being the standard-bearer of LP. He said they have to hear his stand on issues and see if they agree on a common platform.
Ocampo acknowledged that the land dispute involving Hacienda Luisita, a vast track of land in Tarlac owned by the family of Aquino, continues to drive a wedge between them.
Tension is gripping the sugar plantation anew over a petition by the Aquinos blocking the distribution of the property under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). The farmers urged Aquino to ask his family to withdraw the petition as a concrete step toward resolving the long-standing land dispute.
Farmers will commemorate on November 16 the second year anniversary of what called the Hacienda Luisita massacre when seven strikers died in a violent confrontation with soldiers and policemen who were sent to enforce the labor secretary's order to assume jurisdiction of a strike.
Erin Tanada, LP spokesperson, said Aquino’s meeting with the leftist groups is still tentative.
He said Aquino wants to see first what will happen on Monday when the farmers commemorate the violent incident in Hacienda Luisita.
“Sincerity and trust have to be built first, there has to be confidence-building measure, so that talks would be fruitful,” Tanada said in a phone interview.
He said the land dispute in the Aquino-owned plantation will continue to be an issue, but he said the senator’s hands are tied because he only owns a small share in the property.
If the meeting pushes through next week, Tanada said it would just be part of the “preliminary stages.”
“They sit down and see if they can find a common ground, more of leveling off, then probably another meeting could be set,” he said.
Asked if he considers the left-wing groups a loss to LP, he said, “I don’t really know, but I’d like to keep an open communication with them. We are all in the opposition in the first place and we should not be quarreling.”
Source: http://politics.inquirer.net/view.php?db=1&article=20091112-235830
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