THE bickering among three former senators seeking to regain their seats is threatening to tear the Liberal Party apart.
“If Ralph [Recto] is in, I am out,” said former Senator Sergio Osmeña III as he bolted the LP to protest Recto’s entry into the party’s senatorial slate.
Osmeña blamed former Senate President Franklin Drilon, another LP senatorial aspirant, for bringing Recto into the slate.
“Recto has tainted the Liberal Party,’ a source quoted Osmeña as saying.
“The Noynoy-Mar coalition promises new politics and much higher standards of behavior. How can they accept someone who is pro-GMA [President Gloria Arroyo], has never exposed nor resisted her corrupt activities, and sponsored the most painful tax measure, the expanded value-added tax, which merely gave GMA and her political cohorts more money to steal?
“I would be a hypocrite to stand on the same stage throughout the campaign and ask the people to vote for him. How can I ask the people to vote for someone who is now causing them misery because of the [bill increasing the value added tax] that he sponsored?”
The Osmeñas of Cebu—Sergio, former Gov. Lito, former Senator John, and former Cebu City Mayor Tomas—have set aside their differences and reunited behind LP standard-bearer Senator Benigno Aquino III.
Over Osmena’s protests, Drilon insisted on winning over Recto and his wife, Batangas Gov. Vilma Santos, as a way to strengthen the party’s standing in the rich-vote province.
Drilon, sources said, also wanted show business people to be behind the party to ensure its victory.
Drilon was counting on bringing in votes from Aquino’s sister, actress Kris Aquino; the wife of LP Senator Francis Pangilinan, Sharon Cuneta; and Santos.
All three are highly visible in the movies and in commercial endorsements.
As of last night, Aquino was still trying to convince Osmeña to remain with the Liberals.
“We are still talking to Serge,” he told Standard Today.
Osmeña said his protest over Recto’s entry was “nothing personal.”
“He [Recto] and I have been long-time friends, but this is not about personal relations. It is about principle and ideology,” Osmeña said.
He said he would rather run independently than be seen on the same stage with Recto, who he said had betrayed the people’s trust.
Osmena’s departure from the party prompted an invitation to join the Nacionalista Party.
“That ís nice,” Osmeña said of the offer.
