Post by Lebron23 on Apr 30, 2007 7:30:48 GMT -5
Only 40 opposition bets expected to win House seats--execs
Impeach bid imperiled
By Maila Ager
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 02:46pm (Mla time) 04/30/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- The opposition might not be able to secure another impeachment bid against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as it expects only about 40 “sure” winning candidates for congressional seats in the elections in May, its officials said Monday.
Adel Tamano, spokesman of the Genuine Opposition, and Horacio “Boy” Morales, executive committee member, revealed that out of more than 230 congressional seats, the opposition was only able to field 144 candidates and that only half of them had a good chance of winning the elections.
Tamano further admitted that only one-third of the 144 or about 40 opposition candidates were almost “sure” winners.
“I would say that out of that 144, fifty percent have a strong chance, one third halos sigurado na,” he told INQUIRER.net.
“If you just base it on this, definitely we will not be able to reach the number [needed to impeach President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo]…One-third is only about 40 so malabo na [the chances of the other local opposition candidates are already dim],” he pointed out.
To initiate an impeachment case, the opposition would have to get at least 79 or 80 votes in the House of Representatives, based on the two impeachment cases that they had filed against the President in 2005 and in 2006.
Morales confirmed Tamano’s statement that only half of the congressional candidates that the opposition had fielded would have a good chance of winning.
“It’s not the weakness of our candidates but rather the places that we don’t have candidates like the ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) and some parts of Zamboanga,” he said.
“But we are building alliances with different political organizations, even their political parties and other partylist groups to build up our organizations in these areas,” he added.
But unlike Tamano, Morales was more confident that the opposition might still be able to get the number to initiate an impeachment case against the President if they would include opposition-leaning partylist lawmakers, who might be elected or re elected in the House.
He said the opposition candidates who would be elected in Congress were expected to support any impeachment bid against the incumbent.
“It’s assumed. Me [There is a] strong commitment na yan [already],” he said.
Morales and Tamano clarified however that impeaching the President was not the opposition’s ultimate objective in wanting to capture more seats in Congress.
“It’s part of it pero hindi lang naman dun [but it’s not only that]. We’re also preparing for the opposition’s role after the elections,” Morales said.
Tamano said they did a political mapping not to impeach the President but to ensure that their candidates would not be cheated this coming May.
“It’s for anti-fraud. It’s not for impeachment,” he said.
Impeach bid imperiled
By Maila Ager
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 02:46pm (Mla time) 04/30/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- The opposition might not be able to secure another impeachment bid against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as it expects only about 40 “sure” winning candidates for congressional seats in the elections in May, its officials said Monday.
Adel Tamano, spokesman of the Genuine Opposition, and Horacio “Boy” Morales, executive committee member, revealed that out of more than 230 congressional seats, the opposition was only able to field 144 candidates and that only half of them had a good chance of winning the elections.
Tamano further admitted that only one-third of the 144 or about 40 opposition candidates were almost “sure” winners.
“I would say that out of that 144, fifty percent have a strong chance, one third halos sigurado na,” he told INQUIRER.net.
“If you just base it on this, definitely we will not be able to reach the number [needed to impeach President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo]…One-third is only about 40 so malabo na [the chances of the other local opposition candidates are already dim],” he pointed out.
To initiate an impeachment case, the opposition would have to get at least 79 or 80 votes in the House of Representatives, based on the two impeachment cases that they had filed against the President in 2005 and in 2006.
Morales confirmed Tamano’s statement that only half of the congressional candidates that the opposition had fielded would have a good chance of winning.
“It’s not the weakness of our candidates but rather the places that we don’t have candidates like the ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) and some parts of Zamboanga,” he said.
“But we are building alliances with different political organizations, even their political parties and other partylist groups to build up our organizations in these areas,” he added.
But unlike Tamano, Morales was more confident that the opposition might still be able to get the number to initiate an impeachment case against the President if they would include opposition-leaning partylist lawmakers, who might be elected or re elected in the House.
He said the opposition candidates who would be elected in Congress were expected to support any impeachment bid against the incumbent.
“It’s assumed. Me [There is a] strong commitment na yan [already],” he said.
Morales and Tamano clarified however that impeaching the President was not the opposition’s ultimate objective in wanting to capture more seats in Congress.
“It’s part of it pero hindi lang naman dun [but it’s not only that]. We’re also preparing for the opposition’s role after the elections,” Morales said.
Tamano said they did a political mapping not to impeach the President but to ensure that their candidates would not be cheated this coming May.
“It’s for anti-fraud. It’s not for impeachment,” he said.