Noynoy won’t leave GO

Tarlac Rep. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III declared yesterday that he would not desert the Genuine Opposition (GO) coalition.

He made the declaration in the wake of what he described as "rumors" being circulated by officials of the administration’s Team Unity (TU) that he and Senate President Manuel Villar Jr. are about to abandon GO.

Both Villar and Aquino are opposition senatorial candidates. Villar is running as an independent but has been adopted by GO, while Aquino belongs to the Liberal Party, one of several political parties grouped under GO.

Aquino said he has no reason to leave the GO slate since the coalition is "respecting its agreement with the Liberal Party that it will not fill the last slot that has been vacated by Sen. Kiko (Francis) Pangilinan."

"Kiko can still be counted with the opposition in the sense that he is not with the administration. We have no reason to fill the slot that has been left vacant by GO’s decision to take him out of the ticket," he said.

Like Aquino, Pangilinan belongs to LP, which had nominated the two to the GO slate. Like Villar, Pangilinan is seeking reelection as an independent, though GO has adopted him. But the opposition coalition junked him after he repeatedly refused to join its campaign rallies and sorties.

After GO junked Pangilinan, Sen. Franklin Drilon, who is Liberal Party president, warned the opposition coalition against filling the vacant slot or LP would reassess its alliance with GO.

Aquino said he and Pangilinan share the principles and advocacies of the opposition coalition, particularly the need to protect freedom and democracy from the "constant assault" of the Arroyo administration.

"This is the reason why we are not with Team Unity. We are on the other side of the political fence, represented by the opposition," he said.

"The difference between Kiko and GO is only in the style of campaigning. We campaign as a ticket, while he wants to campaign solo most of the time. We should not begrudge him for that," he added.

Aquino is scheduled to join his Liberal Party colleague in his campaign in Cebu province this weekend.

The two LP candidates are in the winners’ circle of 12 in the latest Social Weather Stations survey.

Pangilinan topped the survey with 56 percent support from 1,200 respondents nationwide, while Aquino was tied in ninth place.