Rivals of Tarlac’s Yap spurn his offer of reconciliation

TARLAC CITY — Saying it would be like "shaking hands with the devil," leaders of the administration-backed People Power Coalition (PPC) and a local faction of the opposition refused to accept re-elected Gov. Jose Yap Sr.’s offer of reconciliation during the 128th founding anniversary of this home-province of former President Corazon Aquino yesterday.

Instead, the camps of Yap’s gubernatorial rivals, Vice Gov. Herminio Aquino of PPC and this city’s Mayor Gelacio Manalang of the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino-Third Force (Laban-Third Force), continued to assail Yap and his party, the Sama-Sama sa Tarlac (SST), for allegedly resorting to vote-buying, terrorism and massive disenfranchisement of voters in order to win the May 14 polls.

PPC and Laban-Third Force forged a "tactical alliance" after their more than 250 leaders met with former Rep. Jose "Peping" Cojuangco Jr. inside the 6,000-hectare Hacienda Luisita to map out post-election plans.

Yap and his SST party, on the other hand, have the support of former Marcos crony Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco Jr., estranged cousin of Peping, through his political party, the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC).

"The election is over," said Yap in a statement. "I now call on everybody to set aside politics and unite together for Tarlac’s march toward lasting peace, progress and prosperity."

At the same time, Yap said the people must "remain vigilant against sinister forces out to undermine our democratic institutions."

But Vice Gov. Aquino and Manalang said the "sinister political operators" of Yap and SST-NPC, allegedly in connivance with a "syndicate" within the Commission on Elections and the education department, were the ones "who have undermined our democratic institutions when they manipulated the electoral process."

"He (Yap) is just like the devil who can quote verses from the Holy Bible by trying to picture us as the sinister forces," said Manalang. "Accepting his offer of reconciliation would be just like shaking hands with the devil, not to mention that it is also a trap for us to give up the fight against this grand mockery to our democracy."

Manalang said his camp is now consolidating all evidence his coordinators have gathered to prove that there was "massive, systematic fraud," including the alleged disenfranchisement of thousands of voters, during the May 14 polls.

He said his lawyers are set to file a case with the Commission on Elections, seeking the nullification of election results in the province, as well as Yap’s proclamation.

Vice Gov. Aquino said the PPC is also gathering evidence against Comelec personnel, teachers and local policemen "who violated election laws" by allegedly becoming instruments of election fraud.

Saying "it will be pointless and useless for us to file an election protest," Aquino said he will instead file criminal charges against Comelec personnel and teachers believed to have been involved in the alleged poll cheating, as well as police officers "who were used to intimidate the people."

The two-day celebration of Tarlac’s 128th founding anniversary, which commenced yesterday, was lackluster as fully armed policemen continued to guard the provincial capitol due to the political tension between Yap’s camp and that of Vice Gov. Aquino and Manalang.

The affair’s theme is "Sama-Sama sa Pagsulong," obviously derived from the name of Yap’s party and Danding’s popular slogan during the Marcos regime, "Bawat Oras, Sama-Sama (BOSS)."