Arroyo run for Congress spurs Kit Tatad’s own bid for Senate

By Leila Salaverria
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:41:00 12/20/2009




Filed Under: Inquirer Politics, Eleksyon 2010


Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20091220-243039/Arroyo-run-for-Congress-spurs-Kit-Tatads-own-bid-for-Senate


MANILA, Philippines—The specter of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo possibly dominating the House of Representatives has spurred former Sen. Francisco Tatad into a last-minute sprint for a Senate seat.

Tatad, who was information minister under the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos and a two-term senator in the post-Marcos era, said he had no plans of running for the Senate, but the announcement of Ms Arroyo's candidacy for a Pampanga congressional seat made him change his mind.

“On Dec. 1, the last day of filing, I saw the headline that GMA (Ms Arroyo) would run in Pampanga. It became clear to me that the next power play would be in Congress, that the House of Representatives would be the camp of GMA,” Tatad told the Kapihan sa Sulo forum Sunday.

He said that if Ms Arroyo would hold sway in the House, the Senate would have to act as a foil.

Tatad said his family was so against his running they have stopped talking to him. It was only recently that his wife stopped giving him the cold shoulder, he said.

Tatad was one of the last to file his candidacy papers. He is running as a guest candidate of the Puwersa ng Masa party of deposed President Joseph Estrada.

Foolish

Though he did not name names, Tatad said claiming to run as the guest candidate of several political parties was foolish.

If you join a party, you are expected to endorse its standard-bearer, he said.

“Those who say that they're the guest candidate of four parties, that's foolishness,” he said.

Among the several Senate aspirants running as guest candidates of more than one party is Ilocos Norte Rep. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the son of the dictator.

Marcos earlier said he was a guest candidate of three political parties—the Nacionalista Party, the Partido ng Masang Pilipino and the Nationalist People's Coalition—but has been most visible with the NP.

Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago also said she was a guest candidate of five political parties—the administration's Lakas-Kampi CMD, the Puwersa ng Masa, the NP, the Nationalist People’s Coalition and the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino.


Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20091220-243039/Arroyo-run-for-Congress-spurs-Kit-Tatads-own-bid-for-Senate