As the 2010 elections draw near, political parties have stepped up the raid of the ranks of their rivals.
The Liberal Party and Nacionalista are capitalizing on the stream of politicians who have jumped ship.
Yesterday, Reps. Victor Agbayani of Pangasinan and Bernardo Pinol Jr. bolted the administration Lakas-Kampi and took their oath as members of the Liberal Party at the party’s national headquarters in Cubao, Quezon City.
Agbayani will be the LP gubernatorial candidate in vote-rich Pangasinan. His runningmate will be Oscar Lambino who previously served as governor of the province.
Senator Noynoy Aquino, chosen LP standard bearer, disclosed that at least seven prominent politicians are expected to transfer to the party but they are still arranging the date of their induction.
“I will not be surprised if a lot more [defectors] will come. Many of them will come aboard in January. And for this, we will be needing a much bigger venue—perhaps the Araneta Coliseum—for the mass oathtaking,” Aquino told newsmen.
Not to be outdone, the NP is boasting that it has a long line of recruits. Four provincial vice governors were the latest to join the party and to take oath before Senator Manuel Villar, party president and standard bearer. They were Vice Gov. Odi Fausto of Cagayan, Ramil Hernandez of Laguna, Wendel Chua of Ilocos Norte and Pasciencia Bacani of Quirino.
Fausto is from LP, Hernandez from United Opposition, Chua from Kilusang Bagong Lipunan and Bacani from Kampi.
Earlier, four Lakas governors defected to the NP—Robert Ace Barbers of Surigao del Norte, Douglas Cagas of Davao del Sur, Luis Raymond Villafuerte of Camarines Sur and Rogelio Espina of Biliran.
Last week, Cavite Gov. Erineo Maliksi and other provincial officials took their oath as LP members.
Senator Mar Roxas, LP president and Aquino’s runningmate, said the LP is attractive to politicians because it is founded on a “bedrock of a platform of good government.”
LP chairman and senatorial contender Franklin Drilon said the Aquino-Roxas tandem is undisputably the team to beat as shown by the fact that they are both leading the presidential and vice-presidential surveys.
“This election campaign is for us to lose. The Aquino-Roxas team enjoys big support from the citizenry. What we need is a strong party organization so that we can get them installed in Malacañang,” Drilon said.
But the Lakas-Kampi said that while it is losing some fair-weather allies to the opposition, the administration party is also getting a steady flow of fresh recruits from other parties.
Recently, eight congressmen from a breakaway faction of the LP affiliated with the ruling party.
The United Opposition (Puwersa ng Masang Pilipino and PDP-Laban) and the Nationalist People’s Coalition said they have also succeeded in luring politicians from other parties to join their group and to support the tandem of former President Joseph Estrada and Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay.
