ANGARA: ERAP CAN'T EXPEL ME FROM OPPOSITION
MANILA, February 8, 2005 (STAR) By Jess Diaz - Sen. Edgardo Angara said yesterday his former boss, ousted President Joseph Estrada, cannot expel him from the political opposition."They cannot expel me. Hindi naman ako miyembro ng partido nila (I am not a member of their party)," he told reporters.
He was reacting to reports that Estrada was about to make a public statement "purging" his former Cabinet member from the opposition. Angara served the disgraced leader as agriculture secretary and later as executive secretary. He remained in the Estrada Cabinet until the former leader fell from power in the wake of a corruption scandal.
The ousted president said he was still studying his draft statement on the expulsion of his former Cabinet member. He had vowed to unite the opposition after undergoing knee surgery in Hong Kong.
But Angara said there is no basis for Estrada to expel him.
He said the Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP), which he formed to serve as the political vehicle for the late defeated presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr., has "self-destructed" since the May 2004 presidential election.
"No one has the mandate to expel me," he added.
The KNP was composed of Estrada’s Partido ng Masang Pilipino (PMP), Angara’s Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP) and PDP-Laban, whose titular head is Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr.
Angara organized the KNP for Poe after it became clear to him that his party mate, Sen. Panfilo Lacson, was not going to give up his presidential candidacy. The two have since become bitter enemies. Lacson quit the LDP after the election together with several LDP followers.
In September last year, Angara tried to merge his LDP with Estrada’s PMP, but the latter group spurned his initiative. The former president’s party later reorganized itself and elected Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile as its interim head.
Sources close to the Estrada camp said the former president was angered by Angara’s statement on the eve of his return from Hong Kong last Jan. 16 that the "convener" of unity talks among opposition leaders should have a "moral ascendancy" over the individuals he was trying to bring together.
A few days before the former president flew back to Manila, Lacson, San Juan Rep. Ronaldo Zamora, Makati Rep. Agapito Aquino, and Zamora’s businessman-brother Manuel, who all supported Lacson’s failed presidential bid, visited him in Hong Kong.
Asked whether he would remain with the Senate minority, Angara said he has no plans of leaving the group, no matter what Estrada announces in the coming days and even if he and Lacson do not see eye to eye.
"I will always be in the minority in the Senate," he said.
For his part, Minority Leader Pimentel said Angara would always be welcome in the Senate opposition bloc.
He said he and his colleagues, several of whom are Estrada followers, can live with the apparent estrangement of Angara with his former Palace boss and the fact that two of his minority members are enemies.
Asked to comment on the Estrada’s alleged "purging" of Angara, Lacson sent this text message to journalists: "Lalakas ang oposisyon kung wala si Angara (The opposition will become stronger without Angara)."
Defeated vice presidential candidate Loren Legarda, for her part, said yesterday the reported move to expel Angara from the opposition could be a simple misunderstanding or miscommunication by the media regarding opposition personalities.
At the Kapihan sa Manila Hotel, Legarda could not confirm reports that Angara would be expelled from the opposition as part of the "cleansing process."
"I hope it’s simply a misunderstanding or miscommunication in the media. What we aspire for is truly a united opposition," Legarda said.
She declined to comment further when asked about the rift within the opposition.
"I’ve seen President Estrada when he arrived last month from his operation. At that time, there was no indication yet of any possible rift so I hope if there’s any this should be healed for the sake of the country," she added.
The united opposition will meet tonight to decide whether to expel the LDP president from its ranks.
The meeting, which Estrada’s spokesman former congressman Didagen Dilangalen is expected to attend, will be held at the Quezon City Sports Center on E. Rodriguez Avenue at around 7 p.m.
Lacson said that reports of Angara’s imminent expulsion only proves who the true opposition is.
"The expulsion of Senator Angara from the united opposition is not a choice between Angara and Lacson. This is a choice between the opposition wanting to unite and Angara. The opposition knows exactly where my sentiments lie," he said.
Lacson said the key to unity is to "remove the distrust, at least, against one person."
He said even if Angara is expelled, the latter’s sister and son, Gov. Bellaflor Angara-Castillo and Rep. Sonny Angara are very much welcome in the opposition.
Lacson said Estrada did not consult with him regarding the expulsion of Angara, and that they did not talk politics when Lacson visited Estrada in Hong Kong during the former leader’s knee surgery.
He said the united opposition can even opt to expel him and Aquino and they would abide by that decision.
"I might be the real opposition. That is his (Angara’s) prerogative if he wants to stay as opposition. But if nobody from the united opposition is talking with you and are not interested to deal with you, how can you be an opposition? It will be awkward," he said, indicating Angara’s growing isolation.
Lacson said Angara did not even toe the opposition line against the value-added tax. — With Pia Lee-Brago, Jose Rodel Clapano
Reported by: Sol Jose Vanzi
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