Oreta only 15th in Malabon-Navotas; GO dominates

Team Unity (TU) senatorial candidate Teresa Aquino Oreta was snubbed even in her own home district, comprised of Malabon City and Navotas town, which saw her finish 15th and the administration nearly shut out of the top 12. The Genuine Opposition (GO) dominated the Malabon-Navotas senatorial race, landing nine of the top 12 slots in the Commission on Elections' final official tally for the district. Oreta, who served as Malabon-Navotas Representative for three terms in 1987-1998, got only 61,013 votes. GO held the first six spots led by Francis “Chiz" Escudero (159,424 votes) and followed by Loren Legarda (154,850), Panfilo “Ping" Lacson (141,084), Oreta’s nephew Benigno “Noynoy" Aquino III (125,622), Alan Peter Cayetano (116,445), and Manuel Villar Jr (116,064). Independent Francis “Kiko" Pangilinan (101,215) was seventh, followed by GO’s Aquilino “Koko" Pimentel III (98,955) and Antonio Trillanes IV (98,484), independent Gregorio “Gringo" Honasan (97,051) and GO’s Sonia Roco (79,916). The lone TU candidate in the top 12 was Edgardo Angara (71,517), who salvaged the 12th spot. Twelve of 24 Senate seats are at stake in the elections. Oreta was elected to a six-year term in the Senate in 1998 but did not seek reelection in 2004. In January 2001, Oreta gained notoriety among critics of former President Joseph Estrada when television cameras caught her “dancing" at the Senate session hall to celebrate the defeat of a motion to open an envelope believed to contain key evidence during Estrada’s impeachment trial. She bolted the opposition to join the administration senatorial slate for this year's elections. Oreta apologized for the "dancing" incident in televised advertisements during the campaign period in this year’s elections. Oreta is the youngest sister of the late Senator Benigno “Ninoy" Aquino Jr, whose assassination in 1983 inspired massive protests that culminated three years later in the EDSA “people power" uprising that ousted the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos. -GMANews.TV