Independents, or it depends?

The parting of ways of the so-called "Wednesday Group" among its four members became the last and final deciding factor in the completion of the 12-man lineup of both the administration and the opposition senatorial slates. The four — Senate president Manuel Villar, Senate majority leader Francisco "Kiko" Pangilinan, Senators Ralph Recto and Joker Arroyo have grouped themselves together when they joined the Senate because of their common origins.

The four re-electionist Senators were Congressmen when they ran together and won during the May 2001 elections under the defunct People Power Coalition put up by President Arroyo. Villar later became the president of the Nacionalista Party (NP) and Recto joined him shortly afterwards. Pangilinan subsequently joined the Liberal Party (LP) while Arroyo returned to his being an "independent" lawmaker.

The "Wednesday Group" decided to part ways, for now that is, for the coming May 14 elections. Arroyo and Recto went back to the Arroyo administration for their re-election support and would run under the so-called TEAM Unity or short for Together, Everyone Achieve More. Senator Arroyo lost his status as "independent" last Monday when he filed his Certificate of Candidacy as member of President Arroyo’s Kabalikat ng Mamamayang Pilipino (KAMPI).

On the other hand, Villar and Pangilinan agreed to run as "independent" candidates. However, both declared they were open to any alliances that would want to take them in. Villar and Pangilinan filed their certificates of candidacy (COC) under their respective parties and as members of the NP-LP coalition. The United Opposition (UNO), with deposed President Joseph Estrada as the titular chieftain, immediately announced they have adopted Villar and Pangilinan as among their 12-man senatorial candidates.

The Arroyo administration immediately jumped at the opportunity to score the UNO senatorial lineup as incomplete. Veteran election lawyer Romulo Makalintal questioned the claims of Senators Villar and Pangilinan that they are considered "independent" candidates. If that is so, Makalintal argued, this would make UNO less two of their 12-man senatorial ticket.

Makalintal, who handles election cases for most of pro-administration candidates including those of President Arroyo’s in the past, doubted the status of the two re-electionist Senators. "If Villar and Pangilinan were merely ‘adopted’ by UNO as ‘guest’ candidates in their senatorial ticket, then it does not have a complete lineup as there is no such thing as ‘adopted’ candidate. Also, Villar can’t claim being independent because he’s with NP. This is important to be cleared because ‘independents’ can spend P5 per voter while if with a party, senatorial candidates can spend P3 only per voter. A party can also spend P5 per voter. Also, to claim to be independent will affect party standing," Makalintal warned.

When I asked him yesterday about this supposed complications to his candidacy, Villar just shrugged off as a non-issue because he has been an "independent" candidate even during the first time he entered into politics as Congressman. He can afford to go it alone, being a self-made millionaire before he joined the public service through his "Sipag at Tiyaga" which has been his campaign slogan through these years. So, it depends who is talking to be an independent candidate.

The Arroyo administration must be desperate at this early to come up with muck to throw at a very strong candidate like Villar. But they must come up with more substantive issues than fussing over Villar’s status as "guest" candidate of the UNO. The Arroyo administration is obviously still smarting over Villar’s decision to ally with no less than ex-President Estrada. Villar calls it a cheap shot when the police security assigned at the rest house detention of Estrada in Tanay, Rizal barred him and his wife Rep. Cynthia Villar from visiting the deposed President last Saturday. This was the time the administration was still hoping to get Villar to join the unity ticket.

While he earned the ire of administration allies, Villar received "salute" from Estrada. "He (Villar) is a very principled man," Estrada described Villar despite the latter’s role in the country’s history as the former Speaker who engineered the elevation to the Senate of the impeachment proceedings against him in 2000.

Now as a Senate president up for re-election, Villar appeared fresh and raring to hit the campaign trail when he attended yesterday our regular Tuesday Club breakfast gathering at the EDSA Shangri-La. After being able to shepherd at the Senate the approval of a hundred vital legislative measures within his first year as Senate president, Villar could conduct his campaign travels with light baggage of unfinished business in Congress. Actually, he did it in less than one year because he took over the Senate leadership only in July last year. Because he wore orange-colored T-shirt, Villar was ribbed as wearing his true color, that of an Estrada candidate.

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If President Arroyo had only known, I don’t think she would mention or even sang (or I better say, recited) some of the lines of "Boom, Tarat, Tarat," the song popularized by TV host Willy Revillame. The President did recite the refrain of this popular song "Boom! Tarat…Tarat. Boom! Tarat…tarat. Taraat! Taraat! Boom! Boom! Boom! This is because Rep. Juan Miguel Zubiri (Lakas, Bukidnon), one of her administration-backed candidates in the 12-man senatorial ticket, has adopted this song for his campaign jingle.

It is a song especially made by composer Lito Camu for Revillame’s TV noontime game show program Wowowee in Channel 2. Zubiri claims Camu gave him the rights to use it for his campaign jingle and turned its lyrics into: "Boom! Tara…Tara. Boom! Tara…tara. Zubiri! Zubiri! Boom! Boom! Boom!" But I heard it myself from no less than boxing champion Manny Pacquiao last week when he was interviewed by the dzBB radio program that Lito Camu purportedly gave to him the rights to use this song for his planned foray in politics. When told by dzBB news anchor Orly Trinidad that the song was already claimed by Zubiri for his campaign jingle, Pacquiao meekly replied he finds no problem about it.

Well, I don’t think the two of them would fight for it because as early as last Christmas, I’ve been hearing the bastardized version of the song’s refrain. It goes like this: "Boom! Corrupt…corrupt. Boom! Corrupt…corrupt. Kurakot! Kurakot! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

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