Magdalo eyes House return. Which opposition will it be?
MANILA, Philippines – The party-list group Magdalo, led by former representative Gary Alejano, filed its Certificate of Nomination and Acceptance (CONA) on Wednesday, October 2, seeking to return to the House of Representatives. If it wins a seat in Congress, what kind of opposition will it be?
Still definitely anti-Duterte, said Alejano who filed the impeachment complaint against former president Rodrigo Duterte in 2017. Alejano, Magdalo’s first nominee, said there’s a “big possibility” that he will also eye an impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte.
“Kung manalo, at sa nakikita kong mga violations against the Constitution, malaki po ang posibilidad na maghahain po ako ng impeachment against the Vice President,” Alejano said on Wednesday when he went to the Commission on Electioms (Comelec) satellite office at the Manila Hotel, accompanied by his party mate and one of Duterte’s staunchest rivals, former senator Antonio Trillanes IV.
(If I win, and based on what I see as violations against the Constitution, there’s a big possibility that I will file an impeachment case against the vice president.)
But will he be part of an opposition to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr? It remains to be seen as Alejano on Wednesday praised the Marcos administration for what he described as a tough stance against Chinese incursion in the West Philippine Sea. Security at sea, he says, is an interest of the sector he represents, which is the armed forces and police force.
Alejano said “hindi kami oposiyon ngayon technically (we’re not opposition now, technically).”
“‘Yan ay binago ni President Marcos, tinayuan niya ang ating kapakanan. Kami ay tuwang tuwa po diyan, maraming bagay na nakita namin ngayon na hindi namin nakita sa nakaraang administrasyon. Ganunpaman, kailangan pag-usapan ng grupo, majority wins, kung kailangang tumayo kaming independent or even opposition, ay gagawin po namin,” said Alejano.
(President Marcos changed [the China policy], he stood for our interests. We are very glad with that, and we are seeing things now that we didn’t see before in the previous administration. Nevertheless, the group has to discuss, majority wins, if we’re gonna stand as an independent bloc, or even opposition.)
Magdalo did not win a seat in the House in the 2022 elections, which they ascribe to attacks on them by the Duterte government. Being an enemy of Duterte is something they share with the opposition bloc of the leftist Makabayan. But other than that, they butt heads on many issues especially the alleged abuses of state forces. Alejano also said on Wednesday that “even the media is free” under Marcos, a claim of the government that is disputed even by the United Nations special rapporteur who said that the state of press freedom was improving but “not enough.”
All these make Alejano, and even Trillanes even as he is only seeking a mayoralty post now, are part of the puzzle of who makes the political opposition, and where they would figure in the Marcos-Duterte breakup.
Senator Risa Hontiveros of the Liberal Party-allied Akbayan said earlier that she has reservations with a Marcos alliance due to “unresolved issues.” Holding accountable the Marcos dictatorship for its human rights abuses and corruption is one of the common goals of the political opposition, left or center. – Rappler.com