Team Unity assails anew GO’s lack of platform

Team Unity (TU) senatorial candidates on Saturday renewed their warning that their opposition rivals have no solid government platform except to bring down the Arroyo administration. The charge, however, has long been disputed by the Genuine Opposition (GO), which bared its 10-point economic plan to the public, salient of which is rejecting new taxes. GO also promised to generate more jobs through labor-intensive infrastructure projects in the rural areas. Former senator Teresa Aquino Oreta told reporters during her sortie in the Visayas that even before the next Congress could start on June 30, the 12 senatorial candidates of GO have already expressed full support for the possible third impeachment complaint against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. The TU senatorial candidate, who once belonged to the United Opposition that named detained former President Joseph Estrada as its titular head, disclosed that the impeachment agenda was one of the reasons she and former senator Vicente "Tito" Sotto got the boot from GO. “I refused to sign the manifesto that to be part of the opposition, candidates must support the impeachment case. I don’t want to be forced against my will," Oreta said in Filipino. Oreta said the impeachment manifesto ranked first in the opposition agenda and that its text was long and extensive. The reelectionist senator also revealed that initially she and Sotto had no problems with UNO because they thought the deposed leader was still running the show. But they bolted the party when the impeachment manifesto was dangled in their faces. Reelectionists Joker Arroyo and Ralph Recto earlier justified the inclusion of Oreta and Sotto in the Team Unity, saying the opposition had nothing in mind except to destabilize the government and oust Mrs Arroyo. Their stand was backed by reelectionist Sen. Edgardo Angara. “As I see it, the only agenda of the opposition is to simply overthrow the incumbent administration. There is no other alternative that they could offer. As if the role of the opposition is simply to impeach and overthrow," Angara, who is also with Team Unity, said. Oreta earlier revealed her decision to leave the opposition was also prompted by Estrada’s refusal to back her candidacy. She also disclosed that as early as July 2006, she started hosting a series of meetings at her residence to tackle who will make up the 12-man slate of the United Opposition, now renamed the Genuine Opposition. Oreta said the meeting explored the possibility of including the names of the so-called Wednesday Club members, namely senators Manny Villar, Francis Pangilinan and Joker Arroyo and Recto. But to her surprise, she said forces emerged in UNO who expedited her and Sotto’s ouster from the list. She declined to name names. GMA News.TV