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Posted on 06 July 2010
The anti-fraud group Kontra Daya today warned of the impending return to power of hard-core Arroyo allies through defections to the new ruling party, the Liberal Party.
“Members of former President and incoming Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s Lakas-Kampi coalition, who arrogantly blocked any opposition to the Arroyo administration when they were in power, are surreptitiously transferring to the Aquino administration by offering support to its speakership bet, Quezon City Rep. Feliciano Belmonte,” said Kontra Daya convener Fr. Joe Dizon.
Of the 25 congressmen sworn in last June 25 as new Liberal Party members, 22 are “defectors” from Lakas-Kampi: Florencio Miraflores, Rodolfo Valencia, Pangalian Balindong, Amado Bagatsing, Joaquin Nava, Arturo Robes, Herminia Roman, Marcelino Teodoro, Joseph Violago, Sergio Apostol, Maria Carmen Apsay, Jose Carlos Cari, Maximo Dalog, Rogelio Espina, Ben Evardone, Paolo Javier, Rene Relampagos, Jesus Sacdalan, Andres Salvacion, Mel Sarmiento, Eric Singson Jr., and Jerry Treñas.
While some are either third-termers or second-termers as congressmen, many are neophyte lawmakers who occupied other local government posts under the Arroyo administration. They are known to have aggressively pushed for Arroyo’s charter change bid.
Two of them, Miraflores and Valencia, are returning congressmen who voted against the impeachment complaints filed against Arroyo.
“Even the diehard pro-Arroyo party-list groups are paying homage to Belmonte and President Aquino even if they had been previously known to campaign for Arroyo’s speakership bid,” Dizon said.
On June 15, several representatives of party-list groups known to be allied with Arroyo visited Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino III, then president-elect, at his residence and expressed support for him. They included Rodante Marcoleta of Alagad, Godofredo Arquiza of Senior Citizens, Catalina Leonen-Pizarro of ABS Partylist, Agapito Guanlao of Butil, and Nicanor Briones of the Agricultural Sector Alliance of the Philippines – who have all been elected to another term.
“President Aquino and Representative Belmonte should be wary of these Arroyo minions who railroaded charter change, participated in the unjust dismissal of the impeachment complaints against Arroyo and the Ombudsman, and forcibly whitewashed congressional investigations on the Garci scandal and the fertilizer funds scam and allowed the death of the Freedom of Information Bill, to return to power,” Dizon said. “The shifting of loyalty can also be a ploy to protect Arroyo from investigations by the Lower House. These former Arroyo loyalists can move to scuttle any probe of Arroyo’s past misdeeds.” ###
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